Ohakune water source to be tested

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 8, Issue 377, 12 March 1991, Page 3

Ohakune water source to be tested

Mayor Garrick Workman wants to find out "once and for all" about the quality of the Ohakune water at its spring source inside the national park.

Waimarino Community Board members asked for an update of progress on the water supply treatment saga, and were told by Mayor Workman that a helicopter had been ordered to fly the necessary equipment in to the spring source to test the water quality, including

the presence of of giardia.. He told the board he and some council officers had hiked to the spring and found the water to be crystal clear, filling a small pool with a sandy bottom and no silt. Asked if it would be an

economically viable option to extend the water pipes the approximately five kilometres to the source, technical services director Bruce Dobson said he believed it would be too expensive. Mr Dobson said the council was going ahead with its plan to call for tenders on both the chlorination and ultraviolet treatment systems. He said the discovery of giardia in the supply

had compounded the difficulty of treating the water and that they were investigating installing a reservoir, because this could mean easier and cheaper filtration. "A steady flow of water makes it easier to set up a good filtration system and would therefore reduce costs," he said. "I know it is pretty frustrating for you at this stage but I'm determined to make sure in my own mind that the decision on how we treat the water is the right

one," said Mr Dobson, after telling the board that tests were still being carried out to determine the filtration needs of the supply. He said he was reluctant to give a date for a start to work on the scheme. "It's just one of the projects we're working on in the district," said Mr Dobson. The board heard that there were now doubts about the availability of a health department subsidy for the work

because of cuts in Government spending. Mr Dobson and Mr Workman made special effort to describe the Department of Conser-

vation officer-guided hike to the supply source, citing lawyer, cutty grass and stinging nettle as major barriers to their progress.