​A contract to harvest grass from the Council's wastewater treatment property, Ocean Farm has been awarded to local company, Andrew Quigley Contracting Ltd.

​Ocean Farm, a 300 hectare property near Ashton is the final step in the Council's wastewater scheme where treated wastewater is used to irrigate the farm. The resulting pasture is then harvested​​.

Awarding the cutting to a contractor provides income for the Council to help offset rates.

The contract ​is for one year with a second and third year right of renewal.​​​

Pictured: the Ocean Farm artificial wetland acts as a filter before the treated water is then used for irrigation.

How Ocean Farm works

Ashburton's wastewater is collected and piped to the Wilkins Road treatment plant outside Tinwald. From there, it is gradually filtered and treated through an oxidation pond and two maturation ponds before being pumped 11km away to Ocean Farm.

Once there, the water is put through the final treatment stage via an artificial wetland to an 11,000 cubic metre storage pond where it is then applied across the paddocks.