Mahurangi Matters, 13 January, 2016, Water Feature

waterfeature48 Mahurangimatters January 13, 2016

A trial to allow properties to borrow up to $35,000 from Auckland Council to upgrade or replace failing wastewater systems has been given the green light.Council will start a two-year trial in Little Oneroa, Piha, Bethells Beach and Karekare, as part of a strategy to stop pollution from the 50,000 septic tanks in the region.Households will be able to borrow up to $35,000 from Council, which they can pay back over 15 years at 7% interest.The trial will be reviewed in 2018, when a regional rollout will be considered.The programme will be funded from the $9 million Retrofit Your Home budget, which allows households to borrow $5000 to install insulation and heating. Up to $600,000 a year is being set aside for the trial. If the budget is fully subscribed, about 200 homes will be unable to receive funding in the Retrofit scheme. Under Council’s debt ceiling policy, the fund cannot be topped-up.About 1000 households will be eligible for the trial, but Council estimates that only about 30 households a year will join the scheme because of the high costs.At a meeting of the Governing Body

Council pilots funding scheme to upgrade septic tanks

on December 17, Rodney’s Cr Penny Webster asked if the subsidy could be made available to other areas if the budget wasn’t exhausted. Environmental services manager Gael Ogilvie said that would be explored.A Council report on the trial, written by catchments and incentives manager Viv Sherwood, said Waiheke and Waitakere were selected because they had a history of faecal contamination in popular swimming spots and there was strong community demand for improved sewerage systems.Ms Sherwood said Auckland had a region-wide problem with faecal contamination and on-site wastewater

systems were the main cause.Earlier this year, Council inspected 29 wastewater systems on the West Coast, and found 40 per cent of systems had significant issues. Even newer systems had problems due to a lack of maintenance.Systems failed due to old age, poor maintenance and changes in household or site requirements. Many baches were now used as family homes and the systems could not cope. High seasonal usage, such as the summer holidays, could also overload a system.Council is also looking at introducing a region-wide targeted rate to ensure

all septic tank owners have their tanks pumped out once every three years.The rural sewerage rate has been in place in the legacy Waitakere City Council since 1998, funding pump-outs and cleaning of septic tanks, long drops, grease traps and grey water systems, covering about 4300 systems.A decision will be made when existing contracts end in 2018.The trial will be included in consultation on the 2016/17 Annual Plan in February.Meanwhile, in Rodney, a $15,000 programme to reduce water pollution from septic tanks in Ti Point and Whangateau started this month.Council staff will be going door-to-door to raise awareness of septic tank maintenance and a small number of no-obligation, confidential site inspections will be available to homeowners.Ms Ogilvie says a public meeting may also be held early this year.“We will be consulting with the community and iwi in Whangateau township and Ti Point, as well as the Local Board.”Rodney Local Board has set aside $5000 for the programme, with Council contributing a further $10,000.

waterworld FEATURE

A demand for improved sewerage disposal systems across Auckland is fuelling Council’s efforts to upgrade the operation of household septic tanks.

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waterfeature 49MahurangimattersJanuary 13, 2016

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Warkworth will soon have its own independent water-testing laboratory.Owner of Mahurangi Water Testing, Thomas Galloway, says the laboratory will be equipped to test domestic, commercial and recreational water, and he is the process of gaining IANZ accreditation. “Accreditation is an important step because it will give customers confidence that I am using best practice,” he says.Accreditation is assessed independently in five key areas:• Competence and experience of staff • Integrity and traceability of

equipment and materials • Technical validity of methods • Validity and suitability of results • Compliance with appropriate

management systems including providing a service that is professional, reliable and efficient.

Thomas plans to focus on commercial water testing for businesses not on a reticulated Council system. This includes any enterprise that requires health certification such as schools, cafes and restaurants, sports centres and child care centres.He says the tests will be mainly for coliform and E.coli, which are indicators of certain bacteria that can be harmful for human health.Thomas has been water testing since graduating from AUT with an Environmental Science degree.

Thomas Galloway

INTRODUCING

Mahurangi Water Testing

He has worked for Brisbane City Council on catchment testing, monitoring stream health for algae, salinity, phosphates, flow and fish species, and is also a trained conservation ranger.“I love my job,” he says. “I get to travel all over the place, meet people and learn about what’s happening.”Thomas says one of the most important ways to keep water clean is to enure the source is well cared for and maintained.“Over time, equipment can get clogged and dirty so it’s important that people understand how to manage this.”When not testing water, Thomas can be found splashing around in it. He learned to scuba dive at Leigh when he was 12 and has been a keen diver ever since. He is also a trained scientific diver.


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Do you ever wonder what’s in your drinking water or where it comes from? Most of us turn on the kitchen tap and have a big drink, blissfully unaware of what the water has been through to get to our glass.Drinking water is something we all do every day. Some of us trust Watercare to deliver the water, some of us harvest our own rain water and some of just don’t know where our water comes from – until it doesn’t.I was recently called to a rural lifestyle block and came across a very humorous situation – well, we are all laughing about it now anyway. I met a couple who had recently arrived from the UK and had purchased the lifestyle block of their dreams. One day the water stopped flowing from all the taps in the house. The woman dutifully rang Auckland Council to report the fault and complain about the foul tasting water they were getting. She was passed around the phone tree and then got put on hold to Watercare Services. She spent an eternity on hold and then spent another decade trying to get Watercare to find her home on their system – they could not. After lambasting them with every pointed articulate phrase known to an English lady, and thinking to herself at the same time, “Have I moved to a Third World country or what?” she was put

Above are some of the items, including a baby eel, which were found when a local water tank was cleaned.

What’s lurking in your water tank?By Steve Reynoldsof Aqua Filter

through to an older, and wiser, staff member. He delicately informed her the reason she was not a Watercare customer was because, in fact, she was not connected to their network. “Impossible,” she said, “I must be –where does my water come from then?” He suggested that as she was eight-kilometres from the nearest town supply, she must be harvesting her own rain water. The slightly red faced woman quickly gathered her wits and rang me.What I found, of course, was empty water tanks. That was, however, after some serious searching for the tanks, which I knew were there somewhere. Eventually I dug down and found two completely buried concrete tanks – the tank lids were even buried under soil and mulch.

Groundwater had been entering the tanks and there was clear evidence of dead birds in the tank. There was a clapped out water pump and no filtration whatsoever.The conversation from the resident quickly turned from “oh my” and “oh dear” to “how fast can I fix everything”, which is not unusual when you have no water!I rang John Carr from Mobi Kair, told him I had an urgent five-minute job for him, and after he stopped laughing (because John is really busy when there is no rain and he knows what my five minute jobs are like) he came and helped me out. The next day we got inside the tanks and cleaned out the sludge, birds and tree roots. John installed new riser pipes to the top of the tank so they were

100mm proud of ground level, and fresh water was delivered. I installed a new water pump and a high output ultra-violet filtration system and made a new box for it all to live in. To fix the bird problem I went back a few days later and installed a contaminated water diverter, which is a physical screen type filter that stops any debris, leaves or birds – anything bigger than a speck of sand – from entering the tank.Needless to say, the new “Kiwis” were delighted to able to turn the tap on again and have fresh, drinkable water flowing – it’s the little things in life eh!Make sure you drink plenty of water this summer – it is the elixir of life, will cure just about anything and is what you are mostly made up of – well, in physical form anyway.


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Tawharanui Open Sanctuary receives something like 160,000 visitors a year. The vast majority of these visitors go to Anchor Bay, the iconic sandy beach which is a short walk over the sand dunes from the carpark. The beach stretches out in both directions and is within the totally protected marine reserve. Increasing numbers of fish share the water with swimmers, surfers and stand-up paddle boarders.You can, however, have too much of a good thing. The rain that is finally falling is a welcome relief to the hot sunny days, not least for the 2015 plantings at Tawharanui. Like the rain, venturing further afield than Anchor Bay, offers a relief from the midday sun and crowds. The circular Ecology Trail leads from the east of the beach into the remnant of native bush that is a lush green wonderland of mature puriri and nikau. Most of the introduced bird species are easily seen or heard on this relatively short walk, which loops back to the top of the paddock above the beach. Once exiting at the top, a short walk, towards the coast and across the paddock, leads to a recently upgraded track that provides easy access to the more remote stony coastal inlets. If the tide is right, you can walk back around the rocks to the sandy part of the beach.The intrepid can bring snorkel gear to explore the rocky shores, or just enjoy what will probably be your own private beach space. The songs of the saddleback, bellbird and tui will be real, but the gannet calls will probably be, for now anyway, from the speaker perched on the top of the cliff as part of efforts to establish a resident population of these superb birds.

Too much sun?

If the tide is right, park visitors can return to Anchor Bay via the beach.

In addition to the sandy beaches and coastal forest, Tawharanui also has wetland and estuarine habitats that support different species of birds. The bird hide by the lagoon is a good place to see the ducks, shags, stilts and other birds that frequent that area. The wetland over the road is now well established, providing a shady walk beneath the manuka canopy. Sightings of banded rail are becoming increasingly common; the rare fernbird also lives in the vicinity, shared with a group of takahe.

As an alternative to slip, slop, slap, we suggest getting out of the hot sun by exploring some of the rest of the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary. Brochures are available from various sites on the park showing the marked trails.For those who enjoy exploring the park and would like to help with its on-going development, the first workday of 2016 will be on Sunday February 7. Meet at 9am at the Woolshed and there will be plenty of time for a swim after the BBQ lunch provided.

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Applying for resource consent for a new home in the Kaipara District could be a little easier soon depending on the outcome of a Kaipara District Council review of the Fire Safety Rule in the District Plan.Currently, the NZ Fire Service standard requires every new home in Kaipara, that is not on a reticulated system, to have 45,000 litres of water available for fire fighting purposes.However, the council accepts variations on the standard as part of its resource consent process.Fire risk officer Craig Bain says the reality is that a lot of the small sections in places such as Mangawhai are unable to meet the standard.“By the time they’d put in the required number of tanks for a 45,000 litre reserve and a septic system, there would be no room left for the house,” he says.“As a result, council has scaled back the storage requirement to 10,000 litres.”The District Plan review is looking at making the 10,000 litre requirement part of the standard and thereby, doing away with the need to include it in the resource consent.At present, the householder or their representative is required to send a map of their site to the NZ Fire service, showing where the tanks are located and how they can be accessed. Access to the water can either be through the lid at the top of the tanks if they are buried or partially buried, or via a properly fitted Fire Service coupling, which is the norm for most plastic tanks. Once the map is given the Fire Service tick, it is

submitted with the consent application.While the requirement only applies to new builds, Craig says that an increasing number of existing property owners are choosing to meet the standard when they have their tanks cleaned or new tanks fitted.“The regulation can be a problem with small lots, but it still has to be met and building companies, developers and designers are aware of this.”Warkworth Tanks director Amanda Burnside believes a lot of people living or moving to the Kaipara District are unaware of their obligations in regards to providing water for fire fighting purposes.“People moving from Auckland to Kaipara often don’t believe us when we explain that they have a legal obligation to provide fire fighting storage,” she says.Craig says that before the standard was introduced about two years ago, houses were being lost because fire fighters could not access adequate supplies.“The price of not having a readily available and adequate supply can be very costly in more ways than one.”He says that while the domestic storages are primarily for use if the house on the property catches fire, fire fighters could access the water for any fire.Some new subdivisions are setting up a dedicated fire fighting water supply to service the whole subdivision. In these cases, individual house supplies are not required.“We’re pleased to see developers being proactive in this regard.”

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It’s easy to conserve water, and you’ll benefit through lower costs and a dryer, more comfortable home.You can buy water-saving appliances or install low-flow fittings, but the easiest way to save water is to think about how you use it.By repairing leaks or turning off the tap when you are brushing your teeth you can save thousands of litres a year. Here are some tips:Turn off the tapWhen brushing your teeth, for instance, turn the tap off until you need water to rinse. When you do have the tap running, turn it on part-way. Fix leaksIf you have a tap that drips at 50ml per minute (an egg cup full), you’ll be losing 72 litres of water a day. Over the course of a year, that’s more than 26,000 litres – enough to fill a family-sized swimming pool. If it is leaking from the hot tap, that unused water could cost more than $200 a year to heat. A leaky hose can waste even more water – up to 60,000 litres in a year. Soggy ground around a leaking garden tap or hose can cause dampness and condensation in your home.Use the plugIf you rinse a lot of muddy clothes under a running tap, you could be sending as much as 100 litres of water down the drain. That’s enough to do a whole load of washing. Instead, use a bucket or part-fill the tub instead of running water. The same applies in the kitchen. If you’re rinsing dishes or food in the kitchen, put the plug in and part-fill the sink instead of running water throughout.Fill a jugKeep a water jug in the fridge in summer so you don’t have to run the tap for ages to get your water cold enough for a drink. It will also help save water when filling pots for cooking or the kettle. If your water is chlorinated, it also reduces the chlorine flavour.Scrape dishes or use the dishwasher’s eco rinseRinsing plates in the sink can waste many litres of water and is often unnecessary. Generally, it is enough just to scrape plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Modern dishwashers can cope with grease and even some food scraps without rinsing first. Also, they often have water-efficient rinse cycles. These cycles may use just a few litres of water to rinse messy dishes when you’re not ready to wash a whole load.

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Take showersA typical bath uses 180 litres of water. A typical shower uses anything from 20 to 100 litres, depending on how long you stay in. To save water and save on hot water bills, take showers instead of baths and keep showers short. For teenagers, put a clock or a timer in the bathroom and reward them if they keep showers to the agreed time.Reduce your toilet’s water useToilets use from three litres (for recent dual flush models) to 12 litres each flush. Many households use one-third of their water to flush the toilet. You can adjust your toilet so it uses less water. Put a displacement device, such as a ‘gizmo’ or a brick, in a single-flush cistern. Or you can fill a couple of plastic bottles with water and put these in your cistern. You could save thousands of litres of water a year. In older toilets (pre-2004) a full flush uses 11 litres. Check inside your cistern to find how much water you’re using with each flush. Reducing the amount of water you flush is a particularly good investment if you have a septic tank, or are on metered water or rainwater tank supply. Check with your plumbing retailer for the best option for your cistern.Choose the right appliancesChoose appliances that are the right size for your household so it’s practical to run them only when they’re full. And choose models that use energy and water efficiently. Don’t run appliances half-emptyFully load your dishwasher and washing machine before running them. Typically, the ‘half-load’ setting on dishwashers tends to use much more than half the water and energy of a full load. Choose eco-settings where practical to save water and energy.Reduce water flowWater flow is the rate water comes out of your taps and showerheads. You don’t need your taps or showerhead to deliver more than nine litres of water a minute, yet some use three times that much. By switching to water efficient (‘low-flow’) taps and showerheads or installing water restrictors you can save significant amounts of water.

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Documents

Mahurangi Matters, 13 January, 2016, Water Feature