Heathcote River contamination detected by City Council monitoring

14 September 2005

Christchurch City Council’s routine monitoring of Heathcote River water quality detected a change in the water’s chemistry on Tuesday, indicating there had been some contamination.

Mark Christison, the city water and waste manager, said the change was short-lived and by today tests were showing the flow had returned to normal.

“We regularly monitor pH (acidity) levels and this spike on Tuesday suggests a chemical had entered the water that should not be there,” he says. “It’s difficult to say what it was or exactly where it came from, but the most likely source was from somewhere around Curletts Road.”

Environment Canterbury was told and Council staff have been checking likely source of the pH spike but none have been identified so far.

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