Community needs weekly water testing - QLCA
Queenstown Lakes Community Action leaders are frustrated testing has been scaled back around the controversial Shotover Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The group organised the protest in March over Queenstown Lakes District Council's move to discharge more than 12,000 cubic metres of treated sewage per day into the Shotover and Kawarau rivers.
Since then Otago Regional Council has been conducting weekly tests at the plant and at sites both upstream and downstream.
But last week, ORC announced it will only take river samples and visit the plant once a month, although weekly testing will continue at one river spot on Kawarau River, near Chard Road.
"It is disappointing", QLCA leader Nikki Macfarlane says, "particularly given some of their latest published results exceed consent requirements."
Testing includes E. coli, nitrogen, suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand.
Macfarlane says QLDC also promised weekly testing but only published results once a month, and hasn't even done that since 5 June.
"Given that these tests are a snapshot in time, it is imperative for the community to see ongoing results weekly, as promised, to feel confident the discharge is safe and within consented limits.
"ORC test results were filling in some of the gaps but now we will no longer have these."
ORC’s environmental delivery manager Joanna Gilroy says the decision was taken to cut costs, as appropriate monitoring is already in place.
Meanwhile, QLDC Infrastructure Operations Manager Simon Mason says "generally, the plant is performing well and in line with expectations".
"With the colder weather, and as the plant works through the current upgrades, there has been some performance variability observed in a small number of recent results.
"We’re confident these are isolated events and with the new MLE reactor online in the very near future a step-change improvement in the quality of the treated water will soon be evident."
QLDC and ORC are heading to the Environment Court over the failure of the plant's dispersal field and other issues.
