Seddon water treatment plant construction starts

The New Year has seen work start at the new Seddon water treatment plant, after years of consultation and discussion with the Seddon and Awatere communities.

The contract for the construction of the plant was awarded in July last year, to bring the supply of treated drinking water to the town’s 200 households.

Councillor Cynthia Brooks visited the site this week, with Councillor Geoff Evans, council staff, contractors and members of the Awatere Seddon Water Group.

“This is a very happy day indeed for Seddon. When the plant is up and running, the quality of the town’s water supply will comply with the national drinking water standards, and the Seddon boil water notice can finally be lifted,” she says.

“Congratulations to all involved in getting this across the line - council staff, the Awatere Seddon Water Group, Marlborough Primary Health and the Ministry of Health. Thank you to the wider community for putting its trust in Council’s process, which has delivered a high quality scheme at a cost the community can afford.”

“We should also acknowledge the previous council for agreeing to reprioritise other projects in favour of water supply upgrades.”

Liz Cleaver from the Awatere Seddon Water Group said:

“This is a momentous day – we’ve done it! This has been years of battle to get where we are at this point and means there will be no more boil water notices and we’ll have a continual, guaranteed water supply.”

While the November 2016 earthquake caused initial delays, further delays were caused by an algal bloom in the catchment area last winter, which required some redesign of the treatment plant. It’s hoped the whole project can be completed by late September this year, after testing in August.

Work on the town’s water reticulation system will be done in conjunction with the treatment plant. This pipework will take untreated water from the Wakefield Street bulk main to the treatment plant, from where the treated water will be distributed into the Seddon network. This will include separating untreated water from drinking water so it can be used for irrigation of the sports domain and bowling green.

The $4.4M project is part-funded by a $1M government subsidy and from Council reserves. The balance is shared between Seddon residents and the district’s water supply rating areas through a capped annual charge on Seddon households in the scheme, and a charge spread across other ratepayers.

See a short video showing the earthworks getting underway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx1W3m82x40&feature=youtu.be

ENDS.

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