Portable toilets removed as service restored

The Christchurch City Council has started removing portable toilets from city streets as sewer services are restored to earthquake-affected homes.

Over the past month, more than 20,000 households have been told that the sewers in their street have been cleared of sand and silt, and they can resume using their household toilet. Until this time, around 30,000 homes in a defined area of eastern Christchurch (see map at www.ccc.govt.nz/earthquake) have been asked to use chemical toilets or portable toilets as the sewers were blocked. This is in addition to investigations underway to ensure all homes have a sewer service – be it connected to the network or through a temporary measure – by the target date of 31 August 2011.

As a result, the Council can start removing portable toilets from city streets where they are no longer required. To ensure people in need are not left without a toilet, flyers are being posted on portable toilets ahead of removal and anyone still using them asked to contact the Council call centre on 941 8999 to discuss their needs.

So far, around 600 portable toilets have been removed from city streets. Where there is a need, some of these can be redistributed to other areas.

Council Water and Waste Manager Mark Christison says returning normal sewer services to city homes is a key priority for the Council. The removal of portable toilets from areas where they are no longer required will also result in significant cost savings for the city.

“There are around 2900 portable toilets in use in the city right now. Around 2000 of these have been hired and the cost to rent, clean and service the portable toilets peaked at around $1.75 million a month in April and May.

“The cost to the city will reduce as the need for the portable toilets drops. However, even when the numbers are reduced to those 960 portable toilets that the Council owns, we will still be paying around $499,000 a month to service them all.”

One-off costs for the purchase and freight of additional portable toilets – $3.7 million – and purchase and distribution of chemical toilets and disposal tanks – $9.6 million – have also added to the city’s bill for continued toilet services throughout the emergency.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says the Council’s key concern is to restore sewer services to all city homes to make it more comfortable for people living in the worst-affected areas of the city.

“The provision of alternative services was a necessary response to the emergency and the cost of providing these services gives residents some idea of the scale of the emergency situation. The best result for everyone is to get the network working, or temporary solutions in place, and get people back to using their household toilets,” Mr Parker says.

“Our staff and contractors are working tirelessly to return service as quickly as possible to residents. The permanent fix is still sometime off, but we are making good, positive progress in the meantime.”