The upgraded drinking water treatment plant at Dromore will be commissioned this week, one of the final jobs in a $10 million package of work to add UV steps to council water supplies.

UV disinfection is required by new national drinking water rules, and council has also added UV at treatment plants on the Ashburton, Rakaia, Mayfield and Hinds supplies.

Group Manager of Infrastructure Neil McCann said the Dromore upgrade also included cartridge filtration and a new 5.1km distribution pipeline to the 38 rural households connected to the supply.

“The new filtration and UV equipment will be commissioned this week and that should be seamless, though some residents may notice a momentary drop in water pressure during the switching over process at the end of the week.

“It’s exciting to see this major project wrapping up and it means that Council drinking water supplies are moving toward full compliance with new regulatory standards and performance measures set by the government.”

Council has over 520km of reticulated drinking water infrastructure servicing about 70 per cent of residents around the district, and plans to grow the network to cope with population growth in the future.

Mr McCann said council’s Water Services Delivery Plan set out levels of service and projects for the future.

“One of those projects under way at the moment is the installation of water meters in eastern Rakaia. Information from those meters about household water consumption will help Council identify unusual water use, which could be from leaking pipes.

“Managing and maintaining our infrastructure, and operating within our consented water take is crucial.”

Council’s Water Services Delivery Plan

Government requires councils to have a Water Services Delivery Plan, approved by the Department of Internal Affairs.

The plan sets out how council delivers drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services, and an internal business unit (IBU) is being created within Council to manage those three waters services.

Councillors have oversight of water services through a Three Waters Committee that meets every four weeks.