What should we do with our sewage?

15 August 2005

Most of us like to flush and forget, but Christchurch City Council thinks it's time we talked about our sewage, and what should happen to it in the future. Together, we generate 25,000 tonnes of treated sewage solids, or biosolids, in Christchurch every year. That’s enough to cover a rugby field to a depth of 5 metres.

Biosolids are the end result of an intensive process to treat and clean our sewage. Until now, Christchurch biosolids have been taken to Burwood Landfill. With the closure of the Landfill, a new course of action is needed, and the Council wants to know what you think it should do.

To give the community the chance to shape the options that the Council will consider, a team from the University of Canterbury, Ensis (formerly Forest Research), Landcare Research, and Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu, have developed a website where people can learn about the current situation, explore options for the future, and send their views and comments. 

Visitors to www.ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay are asked to consider four scenarios and what they would mean for the city. They’re invited to peek into the lives of Anna and her family of seven; Derek, Tepora and their son Riki; farmers Bill and Colin and their partners Bronwyn and Chris, as the scenarios look at four very different days in the lives of ordinary Christchurch people.

Should we recycle our waste to create fuel or fertiliser? Do we protect our water supply by separating relatively clean household wastewater from that used by industry? Are composting toilets a better way to deal with our sewage? These are some of the questions you can answer by having your say on this important issue. Comments and suggestions need to be made via the website by Sunday 11 September 2005.

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