Christchurch City Council has eight months to upgrade 102 wells before chlorine deadline
One of Christchurch's Pak 'n Save supermarkets has shifted water to the front of the store because of an increase in demand since chlorine was added to the city's tap water.
The Christchurch City Council has eight months left to upgrade 102 wells before it can dechlorinate the city's water supply – but there are questions over whether any have yet been repaired to the standards required.
Councillors voted in January to chlorinate the city's water supply after experts warned of there was a low risk of contamination. The council authorised chlorination for up to 12 months while the work was done.
Councillors were told by council-owned company City Care, which examined the water supply in 2017, that 102 wells needed work to meet expert standards and provided timeframes for when it would be able to upgrade the 25 wells with the "highest potential risk".
Mayor Lianne Dalziel is adamant water supplies are safe and has vowed to fight "tooth and nail" to keep them chlorine-free in the future.
Work on at least 19 was meant to have been finished by now, but the city council has indicated that none have been completed.
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Stuff asked the council four times whether any of the upgrades had been completed, but it has refused to give a direct answer.
Residents are complaining about the smell and taste chlorine in their drinking water while remedial work on Christchurch's supply network is carried out. Its is not clear if work on the wells has begun.
A council spokeswoman said seven well upgrades had been completed according to the original standards, but experts changed those after the Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry in 2017.
"We were advised by the medical officer of health that chlorination was the most appropriate way to maintain a safe water supply. In fact, we were told that if we didn't do it voluntarily, we would be likely be issued with a compliance order compelling us to chlorinate," she said.
On Monday, Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel said she would ask staff if they could reduce the level of chlorine in the water supply following widespread dissatisfaction.
Some Christchurch residents have resorted to buying bottled water for drinking.
Residents have complained online, in print, and on radio and TV programmes about the taste and smell of their tap water, with some citing worsening skin and eye irritations.
Stuff revealed earlier in May that 10 per cent of water samples taken by the council since the rollout began had found chlorine levels equivalent to that of a public swimming pool.
Various Bunnings and Mitre 10 stores across Christchurch said they were running out of water filters, but had ordered in more to meet demand, and one Pak 'n Save supermarket said it had moved bottled water supplies to more convenient locations in the store.
Work to upgrade the main pump station on Colombo St and several pump stations in the city's northwest was meant to have been completed as early as February.
Work on pumps immediately northwest and south of the city centre – such as in Papanui, Merivale and Sydenham – was meant to be completed by April, and in Belfast by the end of May.
A council spokeswoman said the timeline provided by City Care in January was "no longer relevant".
"Each wellhead is unique and requires its own solution sufficient to meet the new interpretation of the drinking water standards," she said.
"Further complicating things is that in order to work on a wellhead we need to isolate it from the supply, meaning we can't use that water. We need to carefully manage the work programme across all the wellheads to maintain adequate water supplies to the city.
"We are looking at what is the most appropriate and effective way to do the necessary work and expect to have some options for the council to consider soon."
Dalziel declined to be interviewed about the issue on Wednesday.
- Stuff
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