Kelvin Heights sewage spill

A Queenstown Lakes District Council staff member reported a sewage spill at Kelvin Heights at 4pm yesterday, QLDC 3 waters manager Gerry Essenberg said.

“While inspecting the walking track, the project manager detected an odour and reported it immediately,” Mr Essenberg said.

Council contractor United Water responded and closed down the rising main and located the leak.
“It appears a rock was pushed through the pipe wall of the main by contractors installing the new Kelvin Heights Track,” Mr Essenberg said.

Although it was difficult to determine how long the discharge had been occurring and how much sewage entered the lake the leak was thought to have been detected quickly due to the presence of odour, which only became detectable at 4pm.
“As a precautionary measure the water intake to Kelvin Heights was closed down from approx 5.30 and restored at 9.30pm once the reservoir reached low levels,” Mr Essenberg said.

As a result of the spill, ongoing work on the track would be carried out with extra caution in relation to the pipeline.

“The ‘Method Statement’ for the work is being revisited to confirm that all possible precautions are undertaken,” Mr Essenberg said.