Sewage Spill Update

25 February 2005

Sunday morning will be the earliest that the ‘all clear’ could be given for the stretch of the Avon River where sewage overflowed yesterday (Thursday) morning.

The overflow into the river at Avonside Drive and Fitzgerald Avenue was the result of a blockage in a sewer pipe.

Signs are erected along to the river bank to inform the public.

Water quality is being tested daily by Christchurch City Council laboratories. 

“It takes 24 hours before the concentration of E.coli in each sample can be assessed,” says Mark Christison, the Council’s City Water and Waste Unit Manager.

“The level of E.coli downstream from the overflow must be less than 125 per cent of the level upstream from the overflow.  This level must be consistent for two consecutive days before we can remove the signs.  This is why it will be Sunday morning at the earliest before we can give the all clear.”

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