New national regulations for the quality of safe drinking
water come into effect on Monday 14 November.
The
changes are to the threshold for bacteriological treatment,
which means Council will make some changes to how the
Gisborne City water supply is treated.
“To be
compliant with the new changes we will have to increase the
concentration of chlorine,” says Drinking Water Team
Leader Judith Robertson.
“This will be a temporary
measure until the new UV treatment facility at the Waingake
water treatment plant is completed.”
Council’s
Drinking Water Assessment for the city supply has been 100
per cent compliant.
Ms Robertson says there is a risk
of not complying with the new rules if enough water can’t
be treated at the Waipaoa plant over summer and all the
water for the city has to be supplied from the Waingake
treatment plant.
“Although the treated water will be
safe, the new rules can’t be fully met when we run very
high water flows through the Waingake
plant.
“Everything we do in the treatment process is
to ensure the water supplied is safe and the proposed
chlorine level will be well within the acceptable levels for
a water supply,” says Ms Robertson.
“Council will
maintain adequate water flow from the Waingake plant to stay
within the new treatment threshold and will be operating the
Waipaoa treatment plant from mid-November through to April
to make up the water demand for the summer
months.”
The UV disinfection facility is currently
being constructed at Waingake and is due to be commissioned
by June 2023, adding another level of treatment for
contamination and means we won’t have to rely only on
chlorine.
“As we come into summer everyone needs to
be making efforts to conserve the water supply and to not
waste water as we don’t have an unlimited supply. This
includes industry as well as individual households,” says
Ms Robertson.
“We will soon be starting our annual
water conservation campaign to encourage people to be
careful about water use.”
The new Drinking Water
Standards are now separate from the Drinking Water Quality
Assurance Rules and Operational Monitoring Rules.
The
Standards list the maximum allowable limits for contaminants
in drinking water and the Rules for water treatment and
monitoring must be met to demonstrate safe water is supplied
to customers.
In addition to increasing chlorine
levels in the water, Council has also recently increased the
fluoride levels to meet the optimal range for dental health
as recommended by the Ministry of
Health.
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Originally Appeared Here