Wairoa District Council plans to invest $13 million in improvements to drinking water provision over the next three years.

Maintenance, upgrading, and reinforcement of Wairoa’s water treatment and supply network will ensure the system is compliant and responsive to the demands of a growing district.

Council’s water supply system has a replacement value of $74.4 m and produces 2.9 million litres of drinking water daily across Wairoa, Frasertown, Tuai, and Māhanga. The system includes two treatment plants, six pump stations, 18 reservoirs, and 118km of water pipes. Around half of the reticulated water pipes are in good to excellent condition, about 20% are in average condition, and just over 30% are identified for replacement as part of the renewals programme.

A focus over the next three years is to upgrade Wairoa’s pumping, intake and Marine Parade reticulation which are critical to the town’s water supply and will ensure continued and reliable provision of safe drinking water.

Water Supply Projects currently in progress include:

• Tuai Water Treatment Plant -chlorine upgrade (reticulation disinfection) to meet the new legislative requirements.

• Māhanga Plant – A feasibility study is underway to help determine the future of the Māhanga Water Treatment Plant. Options being developed include fully upgrading or retirement of the plant.

• Identification of an alternative water supply/ portable containerised treatment facility for Wairoa/ Frasertown.

• Continuing our replacement and renewals programme to increase resilience, including the Lahore Street water main replacement, which will be completed this financial year.

Wairoa District Council Chief Executive Kitea Tipuna said the three waters space of drinking, storm and wastewater has seen a lot of legislative change and uncertainty over the last few years. “Even now, we are unsure exactly how three waters will be delivered in the future, and Wairoa is working with the other Hawke’s Bay territorial authorities to explore a joint approach to provide water services under the government's new Local Water Done Well plan. Despite the uncertainty, it is still vital we invest in our infrastructure.

“Over the past few years, Council has replaced the Mitchell Road and Delhi Street water mains, installed backflow prevention devices and smart meters on town and Tuai properties and replaced and realigned the Achilles Street water main.

“We will continue to upgrade infrastructure and replace water mains where we can, noting that although some of our drinking water pipes are old, they are not failing and still perform well.”

22 November 2024

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