Water Salinity

 Whakatane District Council is appealing to residents in Whakatane town and Ohope water consumers to conserve and use water sparingly over the coming few weeks.

The Council’s Director of Works and Services Haydn Read says that the prevailing weather conditions may result in high salinity in river water during the high tide periods forcing the Council to avoid intake of water into the treatment plant during these periods. As a result production of water will be decreased in the coming weeks.

Mr Read says the Council has put in place measures to reduce the impact of sea water encroachment. These measures include installing a floating water intake at the treatment plant. The floating intake allows for uptake of water close to surface where the salinity level is at its lowest. The salinity level in the river increases with the depth as salt water is heavier than fresh water.

The treatment plant team will continuously monitor water quality to ensure that the plant will shutdown when water salinity exceeds acceptable levels for drinking water.

“It is vitally important that people conserve water to allow the plant to cope with demand and to take water at low tide when more fresh water is available in the river”, he says.

Mr Read says should the situation worsen the Council will impose water restrictions. The Council has secured and placed three water tankers on standby but does not expect at this stage that water will be undrinkable if everyone reduces their water usage levels.

Mr Read says the Council is continuing to look at long term solutions to address the situation and options will be included in the next Long Term Council Community Plan due for release to the community for comment in the coming weeks. These include investigation of an alternative water supply source or changes to the existing water intake.