Save water or put up with chlorination, residents told
Christchurch people have been given a stark choice – cut your water use or put up with chlorinated water for longer.
The city council has finalised its plans to upgrade 72 of the city’s wells. When that work is completed it will mean about twothirds of the city’s water supply will be unchlorinated.
However, the timing of the works will depend on the availability of drilling machines and specialist contractors. It is also constrained by the number of wells that can be taken out of service, especially over the summer months when there is high demand for water.
The council’s water supply programme manager, Helen Beaumont, said the council needed to have almost all of its pump stations in service to meet normal summer demand.
‘‘Unless people are willing to cut back on their water use, we won’t be able to do much work over summer.
‘‘We may also have to resume using the below ground well heads we’ve shut off, which means water from those pump stations will have to be chlorinated.’’
The council will survey residents to see whether they would be prepared to have tighter water restrictions so work can be done more quickly, he said.
It would come down to a preference for watering the garden or having less chlorine in the drinking water.
A water conservation campaign will begin this month before ramping up between December and February, when water demand is at its highest.
In a report to council, Beaumont says early evening is the peak time for water consumption and that time would be specifically targeted. The campaign would focus on all residents but its key audience would be gardeners.
The council would also like to get nurseries and garden centres on board.
‘‘If the water conservation campaign is successful then a higher proportion of the network would remain without chlorination and well head remediation works would be able to continue over the summer months.’’
Brooklands resident Jan Burney, who said she could barely drink Christchurch’s chlorinated tap water, said water conservation was a price she was prepared to pay if it resulted in securing unchlorinated drinking water more quickly. ‘‘If that’s what they need, I don’t have a problem with it. It sounds like common sense.’’
The one proviso Burney had was that properties in areas such as Brooklands needed a green belt around them to reduce the risk of fire over summer. Conservation measures would need to take that into account, she said.
Watering at dusk was an example of more efficient water use, she said, compared to watering during the heat of the day.
A Christchurch Beautifying Association member said most people wanted to see the end of chlorination but competitive gardeners might be less keen on water restrictions, as lawns needed to be freshly watered to look green and lush for competitions. However, the number of competitive gardeners as a proportion of the total gardening population was low.
A report outlining all the work being done as part of the water supply improvement programme will be presented to the mayor and councillors this week.