Sanitary Necessity Comes At A Cost

Dealing with the sewage waste of any urban area carries a heavy financial cost – increasingly so as more and more complex equipment is necessary to meet rising environmental standards. Today the capital value of Marlborough’s sewerage network is $126M and operating our solid waste management system runs into $8M a year – Council’s fifth-ranked most costly area of work.

Blenheim, Riverlands, Renwick, Grovetown, Spring Creek, Picton, Havelock and Seddon are all served by Council sewerage schemes.

In Picton and Waikawa a modern aeration and UV treatment plant was built over a decade ago but a major project is underway to build a new pipeline to replace the ugly, badly deteriorating Kaipupu Point outfall running around the inner harbour. Combined with the upgrade of the pumping stations and a new treatment plant in Dublin Street, it’s an $8M job but it will bring a cleaner, healthier, more efficient sewerage system to Picton. Further significant reticulation upgrades are planned for the next few years to replace and increase the capacity of aging pipes. This will reduce the overflow into the harbour that regularly happens in wet weather.

In Blenheim, residential and industrial growth has required more sewerage capacity -- Renwick, Riverlands, Spring Creek and Grovetown are all connected now -- and there have been major upgrades of the Riverlands treatment facilities. More measures are planned to improve the quality of the treated effluent that will eventually be discharged into the Wairau estuary and through the irrigation system in that area. The old Opawa River discharge will be replaced, which will benefit that river environment.

Havelock and Seddon have traditional oxidation ponds but, for the rest of the region, small population densities still make it too expensive to install and maintain costly sewerage infrastructure as yet.

Council does not believe it is in the best interests of the community to reduce the current levels of service. More information about the budgets and work programme supporting the region’s sanitary services is available in Council’s draft Long Term Plan. Find it on the Council’s website: www.marlborough.govt.nz/Your-Council/Consultation-Listing

Council seeks submissions on solid waste management issues: 5 April - 10 May 5.00 pm.