What the Flush

The council has recently completed several wastewater upgrades and is reminding all Hurunui residents to flush responsibly.

The term “flush and forget” could not be further from the truth when it comes to taking care of your home. The reality is that only the three P’s should go down a toilet, pee, poo and [toilet] paper, anything else carelessly flushed will likely cause problems.

The Hawarden wastewater treatment ponds have received a new inlet screen and new aerators, two hard-working pieces of equipment that exist in most Hurunui wastewater treatment facilities.

Chief Operations Officer, Dan Harris said the purpose of the new inlet screen is to screen the incoming wastewater down to 3mm to reduce the solids and waste products coming into the pond.

“We need to keep general waste from entering our ponds, as it does not breakdown and leads to further expense” he said.

“Our waterman have encountered everything from jeans, underwear, wool, chemicals, diapers, sanitary items, wet wipes, to just general waste over the years. These items get stuck in the pipes, which costs ratepayers as it can be very expensive to rectify, and it also disrupts the treatment ponds,” said Harris.

“The ponds are designed to treat normal human waste and work better if we can keep everything excepts the three P’s out.”

Harris explained the new aerators dissolve more air and therefore oxygen in the ponds. “Low dissolved oxygen levels in the ponds reduce the efficiency of the bacteria breaking down material and increase the risk that the ponds will start to smell. Adding more oxygen takes care of these bacteria and keeps odour down,” he said.