Cool, clear Sweetwater finally flows into Kaitāia taps

Far North District Council water treatment supervisor Regan Jones tastes the cool, clear water from the Sweetwaters Aquifer that is finally flowing through Kaitāia Water Treatment Plant. Also present are representatives from the council, Ventia, United Civil and Veolia, which installed the treatment membrane at the plant.

Cool, clear water from the Sweetwater Aquifer is finally flowing through Kaitāia taps, after five years, several missed delivery dates and more than $17 million spent.

Far North District Council started the Sweetwaters project in 2011, with the scheme gathering pace after the 2020 drought that hit Northland.

It was designed to provide clean drinking water for Kaitāia and surrounds and do away with the need to take water from the vulnerable Awanui River. The situation got so bad that water tanks had to be placed in Kaitāia as the Awanui River ran extremely low during the drought.

But the project has been dogged with problems and has now soaked up $17m of ratepayer money, with the council insiders saying the final cost is likely to top $20m, but the council denies it will reach that level. It’s missed two deadlines over the past two years to deliver the water, but the council says the long wait is finally over.

FNDC head of infrastructure Tanya Proctor said water from the aquifer was now in the town’s water reservoir so was now “in the mix” for Kaitāia’s drinking water.

“They could be drinking it now.”

Proctor said council was keeping a close eye on the new technology being used in the aquifer project, but so far there had been no further problems.

CHEERS. Far North District Council water treatment supervisor Regan Jones reckons the water from the Sweetwater Aquifer tastes great

She said the latest work had added extra costs to the $17m the project had cost up to December, but it would not take it anywhere near the $20m some had speculated.

The project has been dogged with problems and missed two deadlines over the past two years to deliver the water.

The council initially promised the water would be flowing through taps in the town in December 2023, then again in December last year, but issues prevented that.

One issue holding up the project was sourcing a membrane filter from overseas to install at the Kaitāia Water Treatment Plant to treat both the Sweetwater bore and Awanui River sources. FNDC then said the water would be ready by the end of December, but again that deadline was missed.

Compounding delays, the Government’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) said on May 10 it issued an abatement notice to FNDC in relation to unauthorised discharge of water from Sweetwater bores.

“The abatement notice required the council to immediately stop discharging water from the bores to the surrounding wetland. This abatement notice remains in place,” the EPA said.

“As New Zealand’s national environmental regulator, the EPA undertook the investigation following a request from the Northland Regional Council. Under the RMA [Resource Management Act], the EPA has specific enforcement powers to assist and intervene in an enforcement action of a council.”