In Akaroa we have been told by our local government for many years that we do not have a ‘water shortage problem’ and then most Summers they switch on illuminated street signs telling us that we are subjected to ‘water restrictions’. The CCC gives out two conflicting stories that confuse the locals. Who or what can we believe?
With the obvious acceleration of ‘Global Warming’ it is predicted (by NIWA) that we will be subjected to increasing major weather events. It could be that the NZ annual rain fall volume remains within historic average totals, but NIWA has modelling evidence showing that we could have longer and more frequent drought periods and our annual rain fall could occur over just a few short months each year. If this scenario plays out it will be disastrous for Akaroa and we need to seriously consider water ‘recycling’ as the only solution to:-
1. Solve our drinking water shortage problem.
2. Solve our wastewater processing problem.
The good news is that with one commonsense application by CCC we can solve both problems at the same time and at the lowest possible cost!! A two for one solution on a plate.
The recycling of ‘Municipal Wastewater’ has been safely practised all over the globe for more than 60 years. The technology has improved to such high levels that the adoption of wastewater recycling has become the ‘norm’ in many areas for example Western and Southern Australia, or California and many other regions that have a shortage of potable drinking water.
If we were to treat Akaroa wastewaters to the standard of drinking water(as is the ‘norm’) we can then store that water in the existing aquifers. The process is called Managed Aquifer Recharging or ‘MAR’. The introduced water blends with the existing water in the aquifers and it can be used as a resource for local communities, providing increased volumes of water for municipal reticulation, crop irrigation and industrial/commercial uses. If MAR was adopted here it would future proof Akaroa without continued ‘restrictions’. There would be no need to build a second reticulation system or dams for partially treated sewage as is being proposed currently by the CCC. We could safely maintain one and one only reticulation system for ‘Pure Water’ that would be used everywhere including the local bays and the increasing need for emergency water storage facilities for fire fighting and or as a back up for extreme drought conditions.
So why do the CCC refuse to consider MAR for Akaroa whilst the rest of the world is gladly embracing the concept?
The answer is simple. It’s a perfect example of ‘Catch 22’!!
Our City Fathers have to apply their ‘One Size Fits All Aquifer Management Solution’ (ie don’t touch my aquifers under any circumstances) to all situations and that solution is in direct conflict with ‘MAR’ which is totally focussed on ‘Recharging the Aquifers’ with ‘drinkable water’.
If CCC recharged the Christchurch aquifers the people there would riot. If they don’t recharge the Akaroa aquifers the people there will riot. Catch 22!!
The Christchurch people ‘revolted’ when the CCC introduced chlorination to the water supply. They believed that people who would consider activities such as chlorination or the introduction of ‘anything’ into their ‘pristine aquifers’ to be utterly barbaric or demented and who can blame them?
Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains are blessed with ‘pristine aquifers’. The water source is predominantly from the Southern Alps via melting winter snows coupled with heavy rain fall events created by our typical Nor’wester weather conditions that feed rivers and streams that ‘top up’ the substantial aquifers for a seemingly endless supply of pure water.
However, ‘Akaroa’ is a totally different ‘World’ to Christchurch. We have different needs and what suits Christchurch is not guaranteed to suit Akaroa.
Akaroa aquifers are only filled by rain falling on the crater rim above us. We don’t have snow capped mountains or clouds overloaded with water taken from the Tasman Sea. If we don’t get regular rain fall onto our small and limited catchment area then we’re in deep trouble. We do not have the luxurious water conditions that Christchurch residents enjoy and ‘our water’ is always chlorinated.
The current proposals being considered by the CCC for the disposal of Akaroa wastewater are very disappointing at best and there are no proposals being considered to solve our water shortage issues.
Disposal of wastewaters to land in Akaroa or local Bays with the pretence that we’re doing something good for the environment is a myth. The ‘partially’ treated sewage proposed to be used for land surface irrigation is not drinkable and we have no idea of the dangers and risks associated with the possibility of poisons getting into our aquifers or food chain via soil intrusion, or run off into the streams or harbour.
Milk processing companies do not accept milk from animals grazing on such irrigated land (which gives us an indication of how onerous the practise is) and native forests do not require any irrigation; they can regenerate themselves naturally and have been happily doing so for millennia.
Disposal of partially treated wastewater to our harbour is detrimental to the local ecology and is ‘culturally offensive’ to many of our residents. During our Sea Week presentations this year (via Otago University students/researchers) it was pointed out that the ‘p**p’ from commercial mussel farming ropes was causing damage to the sea floor residents like crabs and hundreds of smaller and even microbial creatures that make up the ‘environmental matrix’. So we have to ask ‘what damage’ has been done by the partially treated (and sometimes untreated) human sewage being dumped into Akaroa harbour since 1960? If we accept that the mussel p**p damage is a threat to our environment then how serious a threat is dumping municipal wastewater into our harbour? Where is the ‘science’?
The CCC is desperate to find a solution to the enigma of Akaroa waste water disposal and a harbour discharge is so simple for them. It offers an out of sight, out of mind, low cost solution coupled with little regard for the environment or the feelings of locals.
There are many Akaroa people who are totally offended by the idea of wastewater disposal to harbour and not all of them are of ‘Maori’ descent.
In conclusion, none of the above sewage ‘disposal systems’ under consideration by the CCC provide a suitable wastewater solution and the issue of a ‘failing drinking water supply for Akaroa’ has been totally ignored.
ACTION PLAN
In May 2019 the CCC instigated a ‘Feasibility Study” for MAR in Akaroa by world renowned specialists who were very optimistic for the future of Akaroa. In August 2019 that study was abandoned by CCC with little explanation as to why.
It is imperative for the residents of Akaroa and the local bays that the abandoned ‘MAR’ feasibility study should be ‘restarted’ urgently. There is already $3 million in the CCC budget for further wastewater research. Please ‘demand’ that our local Government spend it wisely and complete the MAR Feasibility Study. We all need to know what is under our feet and how best to utilise our natural resources and assets for our future ‘survival’
John Baker
AKAROA RESIDENT
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MANAGED AQUIFER RECHARGING
PROPOSAL
‘360 degree pure recycling’
AKAROA NEW ZEALAND
