New Water Plant will Improve Quality and Reliability

Monday, 22 February 2010

A new $10.6M combined reservoir and treatment plant planned for Levin will not only improve the drinking water quality for residents, it will also increase reliability of supply during drought conditions and in emergency situations.

The development includes a new water storage reservoir, three earthworks sites for spoil from the new reservoir and a new Water Treatment Plant. The preferred location for the new plant is immediately adjacent to the proposed reservoir rather than on the existing site, in order to keep costs down.

The availability of safe drinking water for all New Zealanders, irrespective of where they live, is a fundamental requirement for public health. In 2005, the Government revised its drinking water standards.

While Levin’s existing plant has served the District well for the past 60 years, flooding events have caused periods of poor quality water supply. It is envisaged that the new plant will be capable of supplying a sufficient quantity of high quality water that consistently meets the Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand to supply to Levin and to surrounding communities.

Council has accepted a recommendation for an ‘off river storage’ system estimated at $10.6M in preference to a $9.1M ‘sand blasted clarification’ system. The off river storage system was chosen as it offers a lower level of technological risk plus the fact it will be less reliant on more expensive treated water storage.

Discussions about the upgrade options started in 2005. A comprehensive study was conducted and the recommendations regarding the reservoir were accepted by Council at the October 2008 Council meeting. The consent process for the reservoir is now in progress with a decision likely in April 2010.

While some residents have expressed concern that the reservoir could send a large volume of water onto Gladstone Road in the event of an emergency, reports show that this scenario is extremely unlikely.

Visually, the reservoir will have little impact on the landscape as most of the water will be stored below ground. Extensive landscape planting will complete the process of obscuring views of the reservoir and Council will apply for a separate consent for the visual impact of the treatment plant over the next few months.