Village water upgrade protects inlet

Properties in Pauatahanui now have water and wastewater connections.

The $1.1 million work to reticulate the village is fully operational with benefits to residents and the natural environment, Porirua mayor Nick Leggett said.

He officially opened the scheme, which connects 21 properties including Pauatahanui School and the preschool, on June 26.

A key driver for the scheme was to protect the Pauatahanui Inlet arm of Porirua Harbour.

A number of properties in the village had been developed with basic on-site disposal systems that were never designed to cope with the demands of today’s lifestyles, Leggett said. Many are on lowlying land, susceptible to a high water table especially in winter and not large enough to accommodate adequate on- site disposal systems.

Porirua City councillor Anita Baker, who liaised with those working on the scheme, said with Pauatahanui Inlet a nationally significant estuary and wildlife habitat, and the Porirua Harbour the largest estuary in the lower North Island, it was important for the village to join the city’s reticulation scheme.

The original project budget was $1.6m but the final cost came in at $500,000 less.

‘‘It’s very pleasing to see that cost savings were made due to competitive tendering and the use of modern practices such as drilling the reticulation rather than open trenching,’’ Baker said.

‘‘ This approach meant that reinstatement costs were reduced, work was carried out more tidily, with less disruption to residents.’’

Half the capital cost of the project was paid for by the Pauatahanui property owners, who will now pay the same water and sewer rates as the rest of Porirua.