Raglan purified water

From time to time there are ‘odd’ comments made about the water discharged from the pipe at Wainamu Beach near the Raglan Harbour mouth while tides are going out of the harbour. The water is purified waste water and is treated with ultra violet light to kill any nasties. It is treated to a standard suitable for seafood gathering.

In early March a post on the Raglan Noticeboard Facebook said that WDC had been releasing waste water at Raglan at low tide and that the treated waste water had solids in it. I thought it was worth doing some fact checking on this as if it was true then WDC should be prosecuted by WRC for breaking the terms of their resource consent.

So I put these questions to the council:

WDC has a resource consent that allows it to release purified water into Raglan Harbour on the outgoing tide, with the proviso that the water is purified to seafood gathering standard.

Would you please confirm that all releases in 2018 have complied with the consent.

There have been no discharges in 2018 that have been outside the consented discharge times.

The FB post also mentioned stringy solids in what was released.  I would have thought the purified water would have been clear.  Does the released water ever have stringy solids in it?

There was no discharge at the time stringy solids were seen. At times there can be stringy solids which are algae and other biological growth that grows on the pipes and other infrastructure, but generally the final discharge does not contain stringy material.

Would you be able to supply a photo a photo of a beaker of the purified water so I can people can see what it looks like.

We will be able to collect a sample for a photograph by the end of next week. It is a timing issue. The discharge from the plant is only at specific times and that doesn’t always coincide with our plant visits that occur twice per week.  (SEE SUPPLIED PHOTO)

So the long stringy things observed at Manu Bay must be coming from another source.

The present system was put in place after lengthy hearings that looked at everything from pyramids to land based disposal as ways of purifying Raglan’s wastewater. The draft long term plan being worked on now makes provision for expenditure on alternatives. The draft plan says, “The resource consent for the discharge of treated wastewater from the Raglan WWTP expires in 2020 and more stringent environmental outcomes are expected to be required.
Alternatives are to (1) Relocate the treated wastewater discharge from the harbour to an ocean outfall (preferred) or (2) To upgrade the wastewater treatment plant and discharge higher quality treated wastewater into the harbour. The requirements of new consent are unknown. Technology is changing so new processes may be available to improve effluent quality. The community may not support continued discharge to the harbour or ocean.”
The financial provision in the plan is $15.6 million with a decision being made in 2021 with the Design/ Construction carried out in 2023-24. Raglanite John Lawson asks, “Why is putting nutrients in the ocean preferred? Why not into a carbon-sink forest?”

If you’d like to have a say on this then go along to the Town Hall Supper Room, tonight 28th March from 5pm to 7pm.

In some parts of the world such as Hong Kong, waste water is treated to a very high standard so it can be reclaimed and used as drinking water.  With Raglan having a strong recycling ethos perhaps that is an option that needs to be looked at.