Silt Overflow Clouds Park's Lake

An overflow of silt from the Truby King Dell on Brooklands Road has turned Pukekura Park’s main lake a little murkier than usual.

Work to remove the sediment from the dell’s pond stopped yesterday while the silt control method was improved. Work has restarted this morning.

Curator Pukekura Park Chris Connolly says the fresh flush of silt has reached the park’s main lake and will take a while to work its way through the lake system.

“You can see that the water is murkier and some people might notice that the lake’s earthy smell is a bit stronger than usual, but it isn’t something to be concerned about,” he says.

As part of the wetland construction along Struan Walkway, the silt build-up in the Truby King Dell pond is being removed. So far about 12 truckloads have been taken away, and Mr Connolly expects this stage of the project to be completed by Monday (12 November).

“It is likely that people will detect a sulphurous odour around Truby King Dell during the silt removal, given the sediment’s anaerobic nature,” he says.

When the wetland has been completed, silt from the Struan Walkway stream will be settled out in the wetland. The newly cleaned out dell pond will be used to settle out sediment from the Kaimata Stream, preventing the siltation of the upper reaches of Pukekura Park’s lakes