Riverton water takes toll on cylinders

Blown elements and broken water jugs have been keeping plumbers and electricians busy in Riverton lately.

Riverton’s water is being tested after some residents noticed a powder-like substance building up in jugs and water cylinders. The residue was caused by the town having hard water.

A side effect appears to be some Riverton residents have had to replace elements in the cylinders.

Riverton-based plumber Callum McCulloch said he had noticed an increase in replacing blown elements in waters cylinders, with some clients having to pay up to four times the price for an element made from different materials.

‘‘What we were finding is we’re opening them up and seeing a white coating on the element. Some have had to get titanium elements, which are like four times the price.’’

McCulloch said it was not a positive look for businesses who replace or sell elements and cylinders.

‘‘It’s not a good look on my part when I install a new cylinder and then we expect it to last 10 years but the electricians are having to come out and fix it.’’

In one case, he had heard of an element that needed replaced after six weeks.

It was believed elements cost about $80 to replace. McCulloch said he believed the Southland District Council was trying to get it sorted as best they could.

Fisherman Cyril Lawless said his cylinder was only 13 months old when he had to call an electrician because it had stopped working.

‘‘We put a new cylinder in probably 15 months ago and we had to replace the element two months ago.

‘‘It just stopped working it was all clouded up.’’ Lawless said he had gone through three jugs in the past few years, with some leaking and others building up a sediment in the jug.

‘‘The last one we replaced, started getting a gravelly substance through it. The element was falling apart.’’

Lawless said the Riverton Community Board and the council were doing what they could to sort the issues out.

Council project and programme manager Bevan McKenzie, earlier this month, said until the results of the water testing came back from Australia it was hard to know the next step.

‘‘We’re looking at what we can do to manage it probably some sort of chemical treatment but we don’t know that for sure at this stage.

‘‘If it was straightforward it would already be done.’’

The current levels in the water gave Riverton residents a hardness level of 55-60 at the tap, while Invercargill was at about 50, McKenzie said.