NATURE CALLS
Mobile phones, keys, tennis balls, wallets, false teeth and toys are just some of the accidental casualties that end up at Palmerston North’s wastewater treatment plant.
The collection of items rescued at the inflow to the plant will be on display next weekend when city council staff begin the serious business of helping the public understand what is involved in managing wastewater.
‘‘We always have a bit of a chuckle when people call and ask if we’ve seen their keys, mobile phones or other random objects,’’ said water operations manager Mike Monaghan.
‘‘Visitors always find this one of the most interesting things to see when they visit the plant.’’
The large items are the first things to be extracted from the flow, and a series of guided tours on Saturday will explain what happens to the rest.
The open day, for which people are being asked to register, marks the launch of Nature Calls, the project to research and decide on the best way to treat the city’s wastewater in future.
The council’s project team is working on a long list of possibilities, from more sophisticated treatment to ensure the water is clean enough to continue to be discharged into the Manawatu¯ River, to land-based disposal, or some combination.
It has been described as the most expensive project the council will ever have made, with a sum of $128 million indicated in its budget for the next 10 years.
The council has a deadline of June 2022 to lodge a resource consent application for the favoured option with Horizons Regional Council, which means a shortlist of options needs to be made by July 2019, and the best choice confirmed by the end of 2020.