Video: State-of-the-art Waiaroha opens world of water for Hastings
A once-controversial state-of-the-art drinking water treatment and storage facility and discovery centre has officially opened.
Waiaroha – meaning water and love – has been five years in the making and is a reflection of the council’s commitment to safe drinking water in the wake of the Havelock North drinking water crisis in 2016. More than 5000 people fell ill and four people were confirmed to have died as a result.
A karakia and pōhiri were held today ahead of the opening of the Waiaroha Heretaunga Water Discovery Centre.
The centre - on the corner of Southampton St East and Hastings St South - is part of the wider Waiaroha project, which includes two 5 million litre drinking water storage tanks, and a state-of-the-art treatment centre that will provide safe, resilient drinking water to Hastings residents.
It is the final major element to be completed in the $92m drinking water upgrade across the district. The other projects in the strategy included the building of a large storage and treatment facility in Frimley Park, a booster pump in Havelock North, a new five-kilometre pipeline laid between Hastings and Havelock North, and the upgrade of seven small community treatment and storage facilities.
Waiaroha is expected to cost $10.5m – $6m is funded from the Government’s three waters stimulus package, with the remainder from HDC debt funding, which has been used to fund the wider Drinking water upgrade programme, since 2018. As of the end of August, $9.85m had been spent.
Hazlehurst said while the primary focus of the improved water facilities was to ensure Hastings’ drinking water was safe, Waiaroha took this a step further.
“Waiaroha and the wider drinking water project arose from a terrible event that caused many to become very ill, and some families to lose loved ones.
“We learnt that we had to be more vigilant about caring for our water – that we needed to invest in it, to protect it and to better understand and appreciate it for the precious resource that it is. At Waiaroha, visitors can learn about how all three waters – drinking, stormwater and wastewater – are managed, distributed and disposed of.
The discovery centre is the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Through science and mātauranga Māori, it’s a place for people to engage and understand the water cycle, from mountains to aquifer to sea; and how it is treated, used and disposed of.
“There’s nothing like this in the world - sitting in the middle of a city, open for people to look around and incorporating Māori principles and tikanga - this kind of infrastructure is usually hidden away. Add to that the educational element that has been designed to help us understand our water cycle and how we protect and manage it, it’s very unique.
Graeme Hansen, Hastings District Council Director Major Capital Projects, has been responsible for the delivery of the drinking water upgrade since the beginning, and says it has been a "very rewarding" process.
"This is the final piece of a large jigsaw puzzle of five years worth of work. Blending engineering, science and mātauranga Māori principles has opened up an opportunity to make our water and processes more visible, and to encourage reflection on where we have come from, sometimes looking back to move forward."
At Waiaroha – as is the case with the water treatment and storage facility at Frimley Park – cutting-edge technology is being used to treat the water that’s supplied to about 20,000 households.
From a bore field two streets over from the plant, the water is extracted from the aquifer and piped to the facility where it first goes through UV reactors to rid it of any protozoa, and is also chlorinated and fluoridated.
It is then transported to the storage tanks after which it goes back through the plant before being pumped out to the city.
The process is completely automated, the pumps operate at a level to suit demand and the smart technology means any issues can be fixed by the equipment itself or reported electronically to operating technicians. The water is treated 24/7, at levels determined by the water quality.
The water treatment plant is set to be fully operational city-wide by the end of the year.
"While the plant is operational, it is in a commissioning stage at the moment. But because it is the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle, we actually now have to integrate another water treatment plant and a booster pump station that forms part of re-tuning the Hastings network in its entirety."
The centre itself, which features more interactive games and learning tools is open this weekend - Saturday, 10am to 3pm, and Sunday, 10am to 2pm. From next week the centre will be open from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday.
