Selwyn_Times: November 23, 2022

Wednesday November 23 2022 Selwyn Times
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Water filter installation on the rise
• From page 1
Leeston is due to be
chlorinated from Tuesday next
week.
“The risk hasn’t
changed in Lincoln
from last Monday,
when it wasn’t
chlorinated. We
Grant
Miller
have never had boil
water notices in
Lincoln,” Miller
said.
Previous consultation with
Selwyn residents through processes
such as the long term plan
had shown they did not want
chlorination, he said.
While data established in coordination
with consultants had
shown some supplies such as
those fed by rivers were at higher
risk of contamination and more
likely to need chlorine, others
had risks which were deemed
manageable.
The district council was
installing chlorination systems
onto water supply pump stations
as they could be needed in the
case of an emergency such as an
earthquake or weather event.
He said the district council’s
former understanding of new
water regulations was that these
systems must be turned on as
soon as practicable around a
November 15 deadline, as given
by the water authority Taumata
Arowai. However, correspondence
with the water authority
had since revealed it was taking
a more pragmatic approach, and
councils were allowed to assess
risks themselves.
Miller said if fellow district
councillors accepted the motion
of pausing chlorination, it
would then have to be worked
out when and how this would
be undertaken. If an exemption
was not received for any given
supply, chlorination would have
to begin on that supply.
This process was more in line
with what other Canterbury
councils of Christchurch and
Waimakariri were undertaking.
A district council spokesperson
said the water services
REACTION:
Most
customers
who have
had wholehouse
water
filters installed
believed the
chlorine was
irritating their
children’s skin.
PHOTO: GETTY
team had received 15 complaints
regarding the taste or odour of
the water following chlorination,
and five positive/supportive
comments. The majority of these
were within the first week of
each supply being chlorinated,
which was when it was most noticeable
as chlorine reacted with
and cleared any organic matter
in pipes.
Hamish van der Klei at VDK
Plumbing and Drainage based
at Lincoln said he had installed
about 20 whole-house filters into
residents’ homes throughout the
district in the last two months,
compared to very few prior to
that.
Most customers had been families,
who believed chlorine was
irritating their children’s skin.
Another Lincoln plumber said
he had installed 17 throughout
the district since the beginning
of October, compared to only
one or two a month previously.
Chlorination is deemed
temporary on supplies where
the district council intends to
get an exemption from Taumata
Arowai.
Selwyn has 27 water supplies
and nine are permanently chlorinated.
The district council has
applied for two exemptions of
the remaining 18 supplies so far
(Rakaia Huts and Springston) and
intends to also seek exemptions
for the remaining 16.
NEWS 7
Gardens on
display for
church fundraiser
ST JOHN’S Parish, Hororata,
is showcasing two gardens this
Saturday to raise funds.
Country Gardens in November
will feature Quirky Garden at
Windwhistle and Terrace Station
at Hororata.
At Quirky Garden, which is the
home of Tish and John Ballagh,
garden art and sculpture is set
amongst a lush backdrop including
masses of perennials and
roses. The garden has seen more
than half of its original large trees
blow down in windstorms over
the last six years.
There will be plants for sale and
metal sculptures for order.
The extensive Terrace Station
historic garden will be welcoming
visitors back after its last
successful open day at the end of
October. A paeony veitchii will be
on display and 2m cardiocrinum
lillies sit beneath heritage trees.
Spokesperson Trish Hall said
funds raised would go towards the
refurbishment of the parish’s hall,
where services have been held
since the Canterbury earthquakes
rendered its stone church out of
bounds.
Quirky Garden is at 1365
Leaches Rd. To get to Terrace
Station, people are advised to
follow signs from the Hororata
roundabout.
The cost is $10 cash at each
garden. Dogs are not allowed.
this is living