Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant update

12 November 2024

Demolition of trickling set to begin

Demolition of the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant’s fire-damaged trickling filters is about to begin.

Southern Demolition has been appointed to carry out the work, which will start on 21 November and is expected to take four to five months to complete.

The demolition is the first stage of physical work to replace the filters with an activated sludge reactor, which will fix long-standing odour issues.

Since settling with our insurers we’ve been focused on getting demolition started. We know how important a permanent fix is to the local community, and we’ve been working hard to get boots on the ground as soon as possible.

Residents will be able to see changes at the site happening very quickly. We’re aiming to have the walls of the trickling filters down by Christmas and in the new year we’ll shift our focus to removing the foundations.

The next stage of work will be construction of the activated sludge reactor. Design work is currently underway, and it’s expected to take up to three years to get the new solution up and running.

Demolition work will happen during working hours and contractors will do their best to minimise the noise, dust, and traffic disruption. Vehicles will enter the site from Cuthberts Road.

We’ll drop more information in neighbouring residents’ letterboxes in the coming days.

Hydrogen sulphide monitor results 

Monitoring results continue to show low levels of hydrogen sulphide. At times light winds may still carry hydrogen sulphide, and other odours, to nearby residential areas but the levels are low. 

Stay updated

We want everyone to be able to stay updated on our response and recovery from the treatment plant fire, and we regularly post new information and reports on ccc.govt.nz/wastewaterfire 

You're welcome to send this update to your networks. If you know someone in the community who doesn’t have email or internet access, please print this newsletter off and pass it to them.

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 for your patience and understanding. We’ll be in touch again soon.