Weird and wonderful at Whitiangas wastewater plant

Weird facts and wondrous technology are the attractions on offer at an Open Day this Saturday October 25 at Whitianga’s new multi-million dollar sewage treatment plant.

 

The $18 million plant at Moewai Rd is now fully operating after a 20-month design and construction period. To celebrate, Thames-Coromandel District Council is inviting residents and interested visitors to come take a look.

 

“It’s true, there are some who might not be interested in touring our sewerage treatment plant on Labour Weekend – but it’s a fascinating facility and the open day we held at the new plant servicing Tairua and Pauanui was a real hit,” says Project Manager Gordon Reynolds.

 

Almost 100 people came to take a closer look when the plant at Pauanui opened its doors to the public at Easter this year, including visitors who travelled from other councils in Auckland to see the technology producing some of the highest quality wastewater in New Zealand.

 

Staff will be on-hand to tour visitors through and answer questions. Visitors should wear covered shoes and doors will open from 10am to 2pm on Saturday October 25.

 

The next stage of Whitianga’s wastewater treatment project is to gain consensus from the community on how best to dispose of the highly treated wastewater - consent for which runs out in 2010.

 

There will be a video presentation in the control room at the plant describing the disposal options being considered. “We encourage visitors to stop in, ask questions and fill in the survey questionnaire to help us with the decision making,” says Mr Reynolds.

 

A full list of options for disposal is on display at the council’s website www.tcdc.govt.nz under ‘news and events’ and ‘Eastern Seaboard Wastewater Project (ES3) or by calling the council on Ph 07 868 0200.