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Wastewater plant 40
“The Board’s first duty is to remove away from the
habitations and haunts of man that which is injurious and
prejudicial to his health, and the second when they have
got it away, to create as little nuisance as they possibly
can with it.” from an 1877 letter to The Press by Frederick Hobbs,
first chairman of the Christchurch Drainage Board It has been 40 years since Christchurch’s wastewater
treatment plant was officially opened, although wastewater
treatment has taken place at the site since 1880. The plant was built to meet the needs of a growing city
and to ensure the health and wellbeing of its population and
environment. Those aims remain today as technical and
scientific upgrades continue to be built into the plant and its
systems. Earlier this month former workers and others connected
to the plant gathered at the site for a luncheon to
remember the day in late October 1962 when it was
officially opened. The plant was built by the Christchurch Drainage Board
over six years and cost about £1.35 million. The Drainage
Board was set up in 1875, with responsibility for all the local
body areas that eventually came under the Christchurch City
Council at amalgamation. The board went out of existence
in 1989 when its responsibilities passed to the Christchurch
City Council. It was rapid population growth and housing development
in the city after World War 2 which pointed up the need
for a modern treatment plant and planners had growth in
mind when it was being designed. At its opening in 1962,
the plant was designed to cope with the expected
wastewater from a population of about 500,000. Mr J.T. Noorgard, the San Francisco engineer representing
the plant’s design firm, reminded the Drainage Board
members in 1962 that although the plant was as good as any in the
world, upgrades and improvements should be expected over the years.
“We may sometimes forget that a plant of this nature is never
complete,” he said. Improvements have been almost continual since that time. This
summer City Council contractors are working on deepening and
reshaping one of the plant’s oxidation ponds to increase the ability of
sunlight to kill bugs in the water and so improve the quality of the
wastewater before it is discharged. That work is part of upgrading programmes which began in 1997.
The aim is to further improve the quality of wastewater discharged
from the plant and to make sure it will be able to cope with expected
growth in the city’s population and industry. |