We're about to lower the amount of chlorine we are putting in the water at some of the city’s pump stations in an attempt to address taste and smell issues.
The Drinking Water Assessor has approved the change at 27 of the 53 pump stations that are being treated.
This will reduce the overall concentration of chlorine in the drinking water.
The 27 pump stations have been selected because they are in areas where the water travels down the pipes for at least two minutes before reaching people’s homes.
That two minute lag is important because it allows enough time for the chlorine to be effective at a lower dose.
At the other pump stations the chlorine only has a minute’s contact time with the water before people start drawing on it so the dose needs to remain at current levels, until alternative measures can be put in place.
There is some work to be done at each of the affected pump stations in order to change the dose so the lower dosage will be rolled out progressively over the next couple of weeks. We'll be updating our online map to indicate the dose rate at each pump station.