Timeline set for drinking water upgrades in small Hastings communities

As part of the Hastings District Council's Long Term Plan, a number of small communities were identified as needing work to improve the safety and quality of their drinking water. Photo / Supplied

The Hastings District's small communities' drinking water upgrades reached a milestone recently with the awarding of a contract to upgrade the water treatment plants.

As part of the Hastings District Council's overarching drinking water strategy in the 2018-2028 Long Term Plan, a number of small communities were identified as needing work to improve the safety and quality of their drinking water.

After an extended tender negotiation process, earlier this month Hastings District Council awarded the contract to upgrade six water treatment plants to Filtec Ltd, at a cost of $5.76 million.

The contract covers the communities of Te Awanga/Haumoana, Clive, Whakatu, Waimarama, Waipatiki and Whirinaki.

The upgrades will include UV treatment and chlorination and will be installed on a staged basis, starting in July this year and all expected to be complete by February 2021.

Work is already well under way at Haumoana where a production bore has been drilled and by the end of next week the tender will close for the work to connect the pipes to the bore and existing network.

The water treatment plant at Haumoana is scheduled to be in commission in July this year.

Discussions and negotiations over potential sites for treatment plants, and work on associated building consents, will be taking place with the communities over the next few months.

At this stage, Whirinaki's plant will be in operation in August 2020, Clive - October 2020, Waipatiki - November 2020, Whakatu – December 2020, and Waimarama – February 2021.

Work is also under way toward a new water treatment plant for the Te Pohue drinking water supply.

Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says drinking water safety, quality and security remains the council's number one priority.

"We have been making good progress on strengthening the resilience and capacity of our drinking water infrastructure, and our smaller community supplies are an important part of that."