As we move into summer it appears the activated sludge plant is struggling to cope with the change in weather conditions. It's not operating as effectively as it should be, which is having an impact on how the ponds are performing. This has resulted in odours from Oxidation Pond 1. 

All available aerators on Oxidation Pond 1 are turned on to help minimise odours and we’re taking a number of other actions to improve the sludge plant’s performance, including re-establishing a Compliance Recovery Action Plan.

We have a range of other work underway to improve the overall performance of the treatment plant including repairing an intermittent fault in one of the clarifiers.

Hydrogen sulphide monitor results

We have hydrogen sulphide (H2S) monitors at locations around the oxidation ponds and nearby community. These have been in place since July last year and the results are published weekly on the webpage below.

Results from our monitoring at the community sites during the past week have detected some H2S at Shortland Street. The full results of our monitoring for last week will be available on our website tomorrow.

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.