Trickling filter removal gathers a head of steam

Work to remove material from the fire-damaged trickling filters at the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant has gained momentum this week, with our contractor, Southern Demolition and Salvage, extracting an estimated 30 per cent of the filter media (about 316 tonnes) so far. 

Sheet-piling of the ramp to the second trickling filter has also continued over the past seven days, and is expected to be completed by the end of next week. 

Video: How we've modified the plant after the fire

We've just published a new video that shows how we've modified the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant after the November fire reduced its capacity to effectively treat wastewater by about 60 per cent.

We've added poly-dosing measures, converted two of the plant’s four clarifiers into aeration basins, and are about to complete installing large underground pipes that bypass the damaged trickling filters.

Sixteen new pumps are also in the process of being installed, which will pump the wastewater from the aeration basins over to the clarifiers. This will greatly improve the effectiveness of the treatment process.

Once all of this infrastructure is in place and operating effectively, the overall quality of the wastewater will gradually improve before it enters the oxidation ponds.

This week's drone shot

This drone image we took this week shows the great progress that the contractors are making on removing the material from the first trickling filter. It's estimated that they've removed about a third of the burnt plastic material so far, as well as removing three of the arms that span the top of the trickling filter structure.

Looking at the photo, it might look like more than 30 per cent of the material has been removed, but there is still material banked up against the concrete walls and on the ground.

65 per cent of households receive support

As of last night, our community providers have distributed $438,000 to the residents most affected by the ongoing stench from the wastewater treatment plant.

2190 households have received the $200 grant in the form of bill payments, direct bank transfers and Prezzy cards, which is about 65% of the eligible population.

You can find contact information for the four community providers here, under the Available Support dropdown.

The latest from the Newsline blog

The pumps we’ve been waiting to arrive from overseas arrived in Christchurch on Monday and started being installed this week.

The 16 pumps have come via Sweden and China, and arrived in Auckland last week. Holes were then drilled in the flange plates so that they match the configuration at the wastewater treatment plant, before being shipped to Christchurch.

It will take a couple of weeks to install all 16 pumps.

The week ahead...

Next week we'll provide an update to Councillors at Thursday's Finance and Performance Committee Meeting. You can watch a livestream of the meeting here. We'll also provide a video link to the presentation in next week's e-newsletter.

Next week we'll be able to provide our first results from the continuous air monitor that we have set up at Bromley School, and we're also hoping to have received the results from the houses that we've tested for potential house discoloration. Once we've received the results and had a chance to analyse them, we'll share these with you.

We'll also receive the latest results and graphs of the wastewater discharge quality next week, and we'll publish these on ccc.govt.nz/wastewaterfire  

Stay updated

We want everyone to be able to stay updated on our response and recovery from the treatment plant fire, and have created ccc.govt.nz/wastewaterfire so that we can regularly share new information with you.

We also post regular updates to our blog on Newsline.

If you know of anyone who would like to receive this e-newsletter they can subscribe online. 

If you have any questions, or would like further information on the project, please call us on 03 941 8999 or 0800 800 169 or email wastewater@ccc.govt.nz  

Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding as we continue to work on minimising the unpleasant smells after the fire. We’ll be in touch again soon.