Fresh drinking water upgrades flow
Installation of a permanent UV treatment plant at the Two Mile Water intake is now complete, further upgrading the drinking water supplied to Queenstown, Fernhill, and Sunshine Bay residents.
The upgrade followed the outbreak of cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic illness, in September 2023, which was likely caused by human poo entering the water system at the plant, on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, near Fernhill.
Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) General Manager Property & Infrastructure, Tony Avery says the new solution means drinking water in the area would remain fresh, safe, and fully compliant with the latest regulatory standards.
"We’re fortunate to have high quality drinking water sources in our district but treatment is still required to ensure water supplied to homes and businesses is safe at all times,” Avery says.
“Permanent treatment equipment operating at the Two Mile intake means we can continue treating this water to a high standard, and redeploy the temporary solution installed at the Fernhill reservoir in 2023 elsewhere in the district."
Three people were 76 confirmed cases and 21 probable cases of cryptosporidiosis, with three people hospitalised. QLDC had to bring in water trucks to keep residents supplied with fresh water.
While installing the new UV treatment facility down by the shores of Lake Wakatipu, crews also constructed additional building space to house future pre-UV filtration equipment, as planned for in QLDC’s Long Term Plan 2024-2034.
A date is yet to be confirmed for the pre-UV filtration, but once operating, it is expected to further improve drinking water supplies in the area by removing lake algae (Lindavia Intermedia) from the water supply while protecting the new UV treatment equipment in the process.
Avery says most water sources in the district are treated through a combination of ultraviolet (UV) disinfection and chlorination, and that Council has been busy working to ensure its remaining treatment plants achieved compliance with Taumata Arowai’s standards (Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules 2022).
"Completion of the new solution at Two Mile is just one of many projects we have been progressing to safeguard drinking water quality across the district. Upgrades were recently completed for Glenorchy and multiple Wānaka sites, and we’ll be kicking off upgrades for Luggate’s water source later this year," Avery says.
Work at the Two Mile water intake was carried out by Fulton Hogan, with assistance from Veolia and Filtec.
