Bypassing treatment plant will not relieve odour

Published on 26 November 2013

26 November 2013

Infrastructure Manager Mark Hughes says the Wanganui District Council has permission to bypass the wastewater treatment plant when construction of the new plant begins.

“Construction is scheduled to get under way from next April and during the construction period, we will be bypassing the plant and discharging wastewater to sea,” Mr Hughes said.

“We already have permission from Horizons Regional Council to bypass during that period.

“We have been asked why we are not bypassing the plant now to relieve the odour issues. Bypassing the plant at this stage will not help to reduce the odour because it is being caused by removal of the sludge that has built up since the plant began operating in 2007. We need to remove the sludge before we can start building the new plant.

“The good news is that once construction starts there will be no more odour. The new plant will contain the sludge in a covered pond and it will be removed regularly so we will never again have this problem with build-up of sludge over many years.”