HDC adds $8.7m to Hastings drinking water projects budget

The Frimley water storage and treatment plant is now ready for testing and commissioning. Photo / Supplied

Hastings' major drinking water network upgrades are set to be completed next year.

Additional funding is required to finish the project after Covid-related contractual delays, supply chain issues, and inflationary cost increases for materials and services.

At the September 15 operations and monitoring committee meeting, the council approved $8.7 million in loan funding to be added to the current budget of $82m.

It hopes the boost in funding will help push the project across the finish line and to a standard in line with the HDC's 2018 commitment to make safe drinking water its top priority.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the reprioritisation of this money from within the existing total capital projects budget represented 10 per cent of the total cost, one of the single most significant capital works projects in the council's history.

"It's been six years since the Havelock North water crisis when our council made it our top priority to make our water safe," she said.

The mayor said that despite the unavoidable and unforeseen consequences of the global pandemic, there has been much progress since this work started on the water project.

Covid has made the Hastings water project hugely challenging, with logistical complications and cost escalations.

"We are close now to having an extensive network of upgraded drinking water treatment facilities and additional water storage reservoirs that are at the cutting edge of technology," Hazlehurst said.

The new water system is set to provide the city and broader district's residents safe water, treated to the highest standard.

"Our council is very proud that we are close to finishing the entire project. This reallocation of funds means we can get on and deliver on our commitment to the community in the most timely way possible," Hazlehurst said.

Significant progress has been made on all components of the overall drinking water network upgrade, due to be finished in July next year.

The Frimley water storage and treatment facility is now substantially completed and ready for testing and commissioning.

On the corner of Southampton and Hastings streets, pipes have been installed to transport water to and from the Waiaroha water facility. A water reservoir has also been built with the other 80 per cent complete.

The water treatment plant is under construction, as is the Waiaroha education building and associated groundwork.

Five treatment plants are complete and operating, one in Haumoana, Esk/Whirinaki, Waimārama, Te Pōhue, and Clive. The Waipatiki water facility has also been completed and is in commissioning. Another water facility is being constructed in Whakatū and is set to be finished in November this year.

Since the project started in 2019, the 4.2km-long Havelock North trunk main, the Havelock North booster station, and treatment upgrades at the Wilson Rd plant have all been completed

While the extra funding would be used across the project, most would be put towards completing the Waiaroha project. This includes the education building that will provide the community with a holistic and informed knowledge of the water journey from the mountains to the sea.