Water works starts!

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 423, 11 February 1992, Page 1

Water works starts!

■ Sods turned last week at Soldiers' Road, the first physical signs of activity on the longawaited Ohakune Water Treatment system. "This Ohakune plant will be the biggest UV municipal water installation in New Zealand," said project engineer Peter Johnson "It is also the first dedicated giardia treatment plant in the country." He said there is a lot of concern in the water treatment industry about giardia in New Zealand water supplies, and that his company had proved in its pilot plant that the new treatment system would remove giardia. The pilot plant, a scaled down version of the one that will service Ohakune, was set up to treat Ohakune water late last year and indepen-

dent tests were carried out on the water to prove its effectiveness. The work is expected to take 22 weeks from last Tuesday, the day the contractors took possession of the site. The first stage of the project is the civil installation incorporating the earthworks, building the timber reservoir and eight-by-five metre plant building, and laying the pipe work. This is expected to take until midMarch. Following this will be the installation of the filtration and ultra-vio-let treatment plants and associated equipment, then a commissioning stage which will take up to five weeks. The filtration equipment is presently being constructed by Culligan in Italy, who are an international water treat-

ment company. The UV equipment will be provided by Katadyn of Sweden. Also included in the system will be a backwash holding tank, and a sludge drying bed. This part of the scheme is to handle the material filtered out of the system and its carrying water. The water is piped to the holding tank where the sludge settles out. The water is recycled through the system while the sludge is pumped into the drying beds. This is so the filtered matter does not enter the waterways in the area. Local contractor Koi Young swung his digger into action last Wednesday excavating the foundations for the 1500 cubic metre water reservoir which is to be part of the system, under

the watchful eye of the project engineer. Most of the other contractors and workers on the project will be local, said Mr Johnson. "I've been surprised at the depth of talent in the local community." He said he had found all the workers and contractors for the project locally apart from a specialist

computer control electrician. He invites the general public to the site to view the works, but has two rules. "We've got a job to do so please don't get in the way, and you take us as you find us." He said he will gladly show people over the site if he has time available.