Air Scouring to Clean Inglewood's Water Pipes

Inglewood’s water pipes are about to be scoured clean, block by block.

From Monday next week (12 December) the Council will use a technique called air scouring to remove organic residue from the interior of nearly all of the town’s water pipes. The project will finish on 21 December.

“We’ve divided the town into blocks and we’ll clean the pipes in two blocks every day,” says Manager Water and Wastes Brent Manning.

“Each block will take four hours to complete and we’re advising residents to not use any water when we’re in their block, or they risk drawing dirty water into their homes.

“People should also be aware that the compressor used for air scouring is very noisy. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.”

Residents will receive a letter in their mailbox the day before the air scouring takes place in their block, advising them to not turn on any taps from 8am to noon or from 1pm to 5pm the next day.

The exception is the CBD area, where the pipes will be cleaned overnight on 20 December to avoid disruption.

The cleaning programme is available online at newplymouthnz.com/InglewoodWater, and updates will be posted each day on NPDC’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.

The first scouring on Monday will affect all properties adjacent to Windsor Road that are on the water supply.

“We encourage people to make sure they have a supply of water on hand for the four-hour periods,” says Mr Manning. “However, in the unlikely event of a problem arising we will make an alternative supply of water available.”

Air scouring involves pumping bursts of air mixed with water through the pipes to clean the interior surface, where organic material can build up over time. About 85 per cent of the town’s pipes will be cleaned – the remaining 15 per cent are cast iron pipes, where air scouring cannot be used.

The project has been planned since October in response to occasional complaints from Inglewood residents about dirty water. The discoloured water after the James Street water main burst on 28 November came from the organic material in the pipes being dislodged.