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Catherine Stewart Tauranga City Councillor |
This week elected members went on a bus trip to visit Tauranga City Council's water and wastewater plants.
Tauranga has two water treatment plants, one on Joyce Rd and the other at Oropi. Both treatment plants use microfiltration technology as the primary means of treatment; and both plants have obtained an ‘A grade' from the Ministry of Health for the quality of the water produced.
The Joyce Rd treatment plant was the first in New Zealand to use microfiltration technology for public water supply. The plant can produce up to 37,000 cubic metres of water each day, while the Oropi plant can produce up to 33,000 cubic metres daily.
Microfiltration allows harmful organisms, such as giardia and cryptosporidium to be removed from the water supply. The process uses millions of tiny straws, less than 1mm in width. The raw water enters the tubes and passes from the outside to the inside of the straws through tiny holes. These holes are so small, about 0.2 micron in size, which prevents the harmful organisms getting through. The clean water passes out through the core of the straws.
Chlorine is added at the end of the treatment process to maintain the quality of the water on its journey across the city to homes and businesses. The dose of chlorine required is very small; 1 litre of chlorine per 1 million litres of water.
Average water consumption is about 170 cubic metres per person per year.
Elected members visited the wastewater treatment plant at Chapel St – and found it's still surprising what people flush down toilets without much thought as to how plastics, nappies etc may break down in the process. The answer is these items don't break down and instead have to be manually retrieved – not a pleasant task.
Good education programmes are invaluable for children, but it appears some adults also need educating on the process of what happens once they push the ‘flush' button. The anaerobic digestion system works well and is odour-free.
The annual capital budget provides for expenditure on development works, which are financed from loans with the loan charges recovered from a uniform annual charge and trade waste charge. Development contributions cover the growth component of capital works. Vested assets created by developers and handed over to council are another significant source of the growth of TCC's asset base.
Photos and water data, courtesy of Tauranga City Council.
Challenging ourselves
Congratulations to Miranda Clark and her team for organising the successful Generation Homes Triathlon on Sunday.
I joined nearly 500 women of all ages and abilities for the event. The weather was superb and I'm reliably informed the water temperature was 19 degrees Celsius.
Next month – Saturday, March 15 – I'm organising An Amazing City Race, which is a walking race to get to know your place in the CBD. Cryptic clues will be handed out during the morning with a prize for the most colourful outfit and best photograph taken on the day. Thank you to the people who've volunteered their time to assist me. Also, thanks to sponsors for spot prizes. This event is suitable for all ages and you don't have to find all of the locations to go into the prize draws.
Entry forms are available from Sport Bay of Plenty, Corner 13th Ave and Devonport Rd. This will be one of many walking events on offer in March. For a calendar of events visit www.sportbop.co.nz/vdb/document/235
Route K
Monday's council meeting had a variety of agenda items including a presentation from two ratepayers – one regarding trees and the other offering suggestions regarding wider cycling access on Cameron Rd.
Route K was discussed and a majority of elected members supported an increase in tolls and Route K becoming a State Highway upon installation of electronic tolling collection system, with zero TCC debt from June 30, 2035.
Unfortunately, the debt still remains on TCC books in the meantime.
An electronic gantry is planned to be installed by NZTA, and will cost in the vicinity of $10 million. NZTA also plans to install an electronic toll gantry on the Tauranga Eastern Arterial Link.