Ashburton Courier: March 12, 2020

Page 4, Ashburton's The Courier, Thursday March 12, 2020
No virus impact
on Sister Cities
Organisers of the
national Sister Cities
conference in Ashburton
at the end of next month
say the event will go
ahead, despite uncertainties
caused by the
coronavirus.
President of Sister Cities
New Zealand Hiromi
Morris said the organisation
had been fielding
inquiries from members
about whether the conference
would proceed
and about 70 people are
expected to attend.
International visitors
are among the guest
speakers at the three­day
conference, which is
being held at the Ashburton
Trust Event Centre
on April 30, May1and 2.
‘‘We haven’t received
any cancellations from
overseasorganisations so
far,’’ Mrs Morris said.
‘‘Everyone is dealing
with uncertainties, which
is difficult.’’
Tickets: $15
School age
ChildrenFREE
Mayfield
A&P Show
Saturday14th March 2020
“A true countryshow”
Arundel Rakaia GorgeRoad,Mayfield
Guns Akimbo
Reviewed by Rowena Hart
After Miles (Daniel Radcliffe) insults a
death match boss he awakes with guns
bolted to his hands and in afight tothe
death with Nix, the deadliest playerinthe
world.
Miles manages to bumble his way
through the game in a bathrobe with
fuzzy slippers, zero skill and become
enormously popular to the massiveonline
community.
Yeah, not high art but packs alot of fun
into 95 minutes. This film reminds me of
Crank, ahigh energy, funny, violent joy
ride that really seems about 20 minutes
long.
Written, directed and filmed (Auckland)
all in New Zealand. Also Rhys Darby is a
national treasure.
bookings ph 307 1230
www.regentcinema.co.nz
The New Zealand
Government has
imposed travel restrictions
on people from
China (where the virus
started), Iran, northern
Italy and South Korea.
Sister Cities New Zealand
has been in touch
with the city and people
of Wuhan, and with
other New Zealand Sister
Cities in China, to
express condolences
about the difficulties the
virus has caused.
‘‘Being part of the
sister city community, it
is our responsibility to
reach out to love them
and support them in any
way we can.’’
She said Sister Cities
relationships were
important to help different
cultures accept and
respect each other, and
that trust would be
important after the virus
to re­establish connections.
2263512
2264775
Check private wells regularly
By Linda Clarke
Ashburtonpeople who draw
theirdrinking waterfrom private
wellsshould be regularly
checkingnitrate levelsand
considering if they need to treat
theirwater,says an expert.
Seventy­five water samples
tested by the Federation for
Freshwater Anglersin
Ashburtonlast month showedsix
over the maximum allowable
health level of 11.3mg of nitratenitrogen
per litre (nitrate­Nmg/
l); 37 were over 5.3mg/l, the level
authorities use as ared flag.
Professor Jenny Webster­
Brown, adjunct professor at the
Waterways Centre for
Freshwater Management in
Canterbury, saidprivate well
owners should also pay attention
to red flag levels. They should
havetheir water testedfour times
ayear,every five years ­that
would account for both seasonal
fluctuations and trends over a
longer timeperiod.
Water withnitrate­N over
Ashburton
April
16, 17, 20, 21, 22 &23
Jenny Webster-Brown
11.3mg/l is an immediate
problem for pregnant women or
babiesuptothree months as it
contributestoblue baby
syndrome, where the blood is
unabletocarry oxygen around
the body.
Professor Webster­Brown said
there was also growingconcern
2265774
GREAT
RATES
that lowerlevels of nitratein
drinking water,consumed over a
lifetime, may be carcinogenic.
Nitratelevelsinrural Canterbury
are affected by farmingpractices
up to 100 years ago,aswell as
currentpractices. Recent
contributions were evident in
nitratelevels that fluctuated
seasonally, she said.
‘‘This has beenanongoing
problemfor ruralpeople for a
while but it is difficulttoget
people to realisethey mightbe
vulnerable.’’
She said many privatewell
owners often did not realise it
was their responsibilityto
monitortheir own water quality
and take action.
‘‘The responsibility is for them
to find out what is in the water
and treat it. Whereas when water
is supplied by council, it is the
council’s responsibility.’’
The nitrate safelevel is set by
the World Health Organisation
and adopted in New Zealandby
the Ministry of Health and local
authorities.
PC Repairs, Set-up and Tutoring
Icome to youday or evening!
NewPCs
and Laptops
forsale
•PCRepairs/Sales •Networks/Servers
•Firewalls/Security •Spyware Clean-up •Training
20 YearsExperience Microso Cerfied Professional
NETWORKS FIREWALLS AND PCS LTD
Robin Johnstone 67 Aitken Street, Ashburton
P: 03 308 1440 C: 027 768 4058
robinbj@xtra.co.nz
Local news at www.starnews.co.nz
Keen interest in nitrate tests
Rakaia Huts veterinarian Peter
Trolove says 10 per cent of well
water samples tested in
Ashburton recently were above
the maximum allowable value
for nitrates.
Mr Trolove tested 75 well
water samples from 62
properties around the district as
part of monitoring conducted by
the New Zealand Federation of
Anglers.
He said people were queuing
to have their water samples read
by anitrate photometer.
Six of the wells were above
11.3mg/l nitrate­nitrogen, the
maximum allowable value set by
the World Health Organisation.
These wells were at Hinds,
Winslow, Willowby, Tinwald and
Fairton.
About half (37) were over
Environment Canterbury’s
aspirational limit of 5.3mg, Mr
Trolove said.
All those who brought water
for testing appreciated the
chance to test it and some left
concerned, he said.
Mr Trolove has also been
testing nitrate levels in central
Canterbury streams, including
Water testing under way at the Ashburton Racecourse.
the Hinds, since August. Hinds
River at Poplar Road was
5.84mg in August, 7.94mg and
7.15mg in September and
5.93mg in October. Anglers say
fisheries cannot thrive if nitrate
levels are above 3.5mg.
Mr Trolove says increasing
dairy cow numbers, an increase
in synthetic fertiliser use and
irrigation, all on vulnerable soils,
were contributing to high nitrate
levels.
He said proposed new
national freshwater standards
held the key to solving the
country’s water pollution.
Consultation on the new
standards was controversial
though, with farmers saying the
proposed targets were not
achievable and would spell
economic diaster for agriculture,
and the country.
Mr Trolove said Environment
Minister David Parker and
Agriculture Minister Damien
O’Connor must signal their
intent before the September
elections.
‘‘We will soon learn if they can
hold their nerve and not kick the
can down the road for future
generations.’’
Mr Trolove, president of the
anglers’ federation, said he had
long­standing links to
Ashburton, where his parents
still lived on Racecourse Road.
He worked as avet in
Ashburton in the 1980s and now
spends time researching and
trying to raise awareness of
Canterbury’s water quality and
quantity issues.
Professor Webster­Brownlives
in rural Canterbury and treats
her drinkingwaterwith a
distillation system that removes
nitrates as well as other
chemicals and bacteria. Her well
water fluctuates between9­11mg/
linthe summer and between 4­5
in the winter.
Distillation systems are
relativelylow maintenance and
costbetween $400and $4000,
depending on the volume of
water being treated and the rate
of waterproduction required.
Nitrates cannotbefiltered out of
water.
She said researchers,councils
and changing farming practices
wereall targeting this problem.
‘‘Itisabattle to which we need
to bringall the armory we have. It
is not beingignored but the more
resources we can put towards
finding solutions,the better.’’
Arecent report to the
Ashburton Water Zone Committee
said there was evidenceof
groundwater impacted before
dairy farmingexpansion.
2245342
Circus on
its way
The Great Moscow Circus
is coming to Ashburton
later this month.
The circus, last inNew
Zealand 20 years ago, will
have 12 shows in Ashburton,
including seven evening
and five matinee performances,
between
March 26 and April 5.
The circus will set up in
the Ashburton Domain; it
is part of anationwide tour
that has been getting rave
reviews. The show features
animatronics, motorbikes
and classic trapeze all
under abig top.
Tickets can be bought
from iTicket or over the
counter at the Regent
Cinema in Ashburton.