Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant update

Aerator back in service

A vertical shaft aerator and disc aerator went unexpectedly out of service a couple of weeks ago.

The vertical shaft aerator has now been returned to service. The disc aerator remains out of service, with a number of repairs required. We hope to have it back in service by 12 April. Fifteen aerators are currently in service and the oxidation ponds are operating well. 

See the latest on activity at the plant on our website. 

New hydrogen sulphide monitor on Mecca Place 

A hydrogen sulphide monitor is now in place on Mecca Place. This data will be reported weekly on our website, alongside data from the other monitors. 

Community board presentation on Monday 

As mentioned in last week's email, Council staff are presenting to the Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board on Monday 8 April. Council staff will be updating the Board on work to reduce odour at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

This meeting will be live-streamed on the Council website and is open to the public.

Date: Monday 8 April  
Time: 4.30pm – 5.30pm  
Location: Online or in person at the Boardroom, Corner Beresford and Union Streets, New Brighton. 

During the meeting you’ll have the opportunity to: 

• Hear an update on the current status of the plant. 
• Hear about the odour mitigation plan and work underway to improve operations and reduce odour. 

Please note that there is no opportunity to ask questions at this briefing for online or in-person attendees. If you have questions you are welcome to send them to wastewater@ccc.govt.nz.  

If you are planning on attending in person please send an email to wastewater@ccc.govt.nz. There are limited seats available in the room so we need to manage the number of in-person attendees.  

Hydrogen sulphide monitor results

We are now receiving data from the Shortland Street site again. The graph shows that on two occasions the health guideline level was exceeded for a short period of time. There were detections at lower levels at other times when the wind was from a south westerly direction.

Lower levels have also been detected at the Mecca Place site.

Where to get help

If you need health support, we have information available on our website. This includes information on Pegasus Health's Partnership Community Workers and contact numbers for Healthline and counselling services.

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.