Mr B Clarkin (Ngati Hako)

IN ATTENDANCE: Messrs B Somers (Utilities Manager), U Trebilco (Environment Waikato) and Mrs R Johnson (Council Secretary)

RESOLVED

THAT the apologies of Cr Baker, Cr Munro, Mrs W Brownlee and His Worship the Mayor be received and sustained.

WWCC00/24 Carmine/Troughton CARRIED

Pursuant to Section 46A(7) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, the Chairman is to call for late items to be accepted. There were none.

MEETING HELD 7 NOVEMBER 2000

WWCC00/25 Carmine/Troughton CARRIED

The Utilities Manager advised that the Issues and Options report on the possible options to review this discharge consent was not available for this meeting. He also advised of a possible development at Waitakaruru that would wish to connect to the sewerage.

A meeting had been held with Environment Waikato to discuss possible consent conditions. It was anticipated the consent conditions would reflect what is achievable from the proposed upgrading and would also reflect the size of the community being serviced.

Mr Urwyn Trebilco of Environment Waikato attended the meeting.

A graph of the BoD concentrations in the Ngatea treated effluent was presented. Of interest was the noticeable reduction in BoD concentration that had occurred around December 1998.

Attached was a report detailing the test results from the Waihi Jetflote trial. The trial was successful in determining possible weaknesses in the Jetflote process when applied to New Zealand conditions. These concerns included;

The Waihi ponds typically discharge around 600,000 m3/year. This was made up of sewage 510,000 m3/year, rainfall on the ponds 135,000 m3/year less evaporation 45,000 m3/year. The flow would be variable and was likely to reflect the flow in the river. i.e. when the river flow was low, the discharge rate would also be low. With a possible chemical cost of 13.5c/m3, the chemical cost would be approximately $81,000 p.a. In addition to this there were depreciation costs, pumping costs, sludge disposal, and UV operation. Other mechanical process was likely to have similar capital and operating costs. The alternative to a mechanical process like Jetflote was land disposal of the effluent. The option of land disposal had been previously investigated.

To keep this project progressing it was recommended that further bench top tests were carried out to determine the optimum chemical dosing of the Jetflote process. From this an economic analysis on the chemical stripping option could be carried out and the results compared with the land disposal option.

RESOLVED

1.That further desktop testing be carried out to establish optimum chemical dosing.

2.That a concept design and economic analysis is undertaken to compare the chemical stripping process to land disposal.

WWCC00/26 Troughton/Clarkin CARRIED

A further on site meeting was held with representatives from Ngati Tamatera. To date there had been no formal response from Ngati Tamatera regarding the proposals discussed at that meeting.

With the resource consents for most of the water takes expiring next year, it was decided packaging the consents together and have only one Consultancy firm assist Council with the preparation and lodging of the consents. Five Consultancy firms were invited to tender for the work. The successful tenderer will be attending the February meeting to discuss the issues and determine the level of appropriate consultation.

With the abstraction of a high percentage of some streams for water supply, there was an expectation that the water was used wisely. Water meters were a significant step towards wise water use. In the Auckland region and Australian cities, there was considerable research on how water usage could be reduced. Currently all household appliances were rated for electricity usage, Australia was now looking at including water usage ratings to assist consumers.

Attached was a survey undertaken by EcoWater showing a dwelling could save 25% of its daily water use by using a water efficient dishwasher, washing machine and using duel flush toilets.

For the Hauraki District to lead the water conservation process would be an enormous task and there were advantages in utilising resources developed by other Councils.

If Council was seen to be promoting wise water use, then the renewing of the consents for water take from the small bush streams would be made easier to justify. Some feed back on how best to communicate this information to the water consumers would be of assistance.

Discussions on how to possibly promote water conservation over the summer months were held. Articles would be placed in the HDC News Page.

Since 1996 the monthly water consumption of 10 farms had been routinely monitored. The monitoring had shown up regular significant leakage. Based on those 10 farms there was a probability of 1 in 8 farms having a significant leak in any one month. Currently the 10 farms were being surveyed to see if there was any commonality between the cause of leaks. If some commonalities were found, this could then be developed into leakage reduction guidelines to assist farmers.

It was suggested that farmers were recommended to read their water metres every day and this would help farmers become aware when consumption was high that there was a water leak on the farm.

The Utilities Manager advised that dairy farmers were being asked to complete a questionnaire as to the quality of water in their dairy sheds. The questionnaire was based on the MAF standard D106.1.

D106.1 is simplistic in the way it grades water when compared with the risk based drinking water requirements. There is concern that due to the frequent risk based testing of Council water supplies there is a chance the Council water supply could fail the simplistic D106.1 requirements.

There were no late items.

The next meeting would be Wednesday 7 February 2001 at 10.00 am.

The meeting closed at 11.20 am.

CONFIRMED

D Johansen

February 2001