A new 1 million litre tank at Sanson holds water for the Ohakea Rural Water Scheme. Photo / Lewis Gardner
A new 1 million litre tank at Sanson holds water for the Ohakea Rural Water Scheme. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Ohakea residents are reasonably happy with the scheme designed to fix their contaminated water problem - but some wish it had better buy-in.
The Ohakea Rural Water Scheme is expected to start providing drinking and stock water in March to residents whose shallow bores are contaminated with the PFAS chemicalsonce used in firefighting foam at Ohakea Air Force Base.
The residents are being provided with safe water until that happens.
The contamination had been an extra layer of worry for them, Ohakea contaminated water committee chairman Andy Russell said.
It would be nice if the contamination hadn't happened, but he was reasonably happy with the fix.
The scheme was expected to supply the base and 85 surrounding properties. But some households have not taken up the supply, and the base was taking less than expected.
"I know there's 20 to 30 households that haven't bought in, and I think they should. I strongly recommend they do," Russell said.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force base was expected to be the biggest user, so it was also "pretty important" that it took what it said it would take, he said.
The scheme is costing about $14.5 million, with the Government paying $10.88m and Manawatū District Council paying the rest. A 1 million litre tank has been installed at Sanson, with its water sourced from a deep and uncontaminated bore.
The water, which will need treatment to remove impurities, is expected to start trickling into properties that have taken it up in March.
Residents were offered free tanks and 25m of pipe installation for it. Each had to agree to take a set number of units for a year, at a cost of $300 to $350 per unit. A household would need about one unit per year.
Most have rainwater to their houses and until the contamination issue surfaced in 2017 they used extra water pumped from shallow bores in summer.
Rangitīkei MP Ian McKelvie is one of the residents closest to the RNZAF base. He said residents had the option to pay a water tanker $250 to refill their tanks, which was cheaper than getting water from the scheme.
Usually people were keen to join rural water schemes, he said. If Ohakea residents didn't take it up, the cost would be "landed back on the ratepayer".
The benefits of a water scheme were significant, he said - better and more consistent water, without the responsibility of maintenance.
The effects of chemical contamination around the Ohakea Air Force base will be long-term, farmer Andy Russell says. Photo / NZME
Russell is taking 11 units of water for his property. He doesn't live there and the water will be for stock. He said some residents had their blood tested for PFAS, but he had not heard of any health issues.
McKelvie said the contaminated water was no problem for stock or on vegetable gardens.
Both were reasonably happy with the water scheme.
"I think the Government has done the right thing by the district, and it wasn't my government either," McKelvie said.
Meanwhile, Horizons Regional Council is monitoring the contamination from the base as it creeps slowly west and southward.
"This PFAS thing isn't going away. The contaminated aquifer is still moving and Horizons is monitoring the plume. It's going to be longer than our lifetime," Russell said.
