We drink and use fresh tap water every day, but where does it come from? John Cunningham, chair of the Te Kauwhata Water Association turns the tap on our water.
The start point is the Waikato River, and for Te Kauwhata this is where the TK Water Association comes in. TK Water Association (TKWA) is a long-standing charitable trust that holds the consent to take water from the Waikato River and supply direct to participating users, as well as the council.
The water is drawn directly from the river and pumped through filters and given a light touch chlorination before distribution.
Irrigation water is piped directly to users where it is used for gardens, animal troughs and washing cars. It is not potable (drinkable), but some people filter and sterilise it on their own sites for their household use.
Water from the TKWA filters is also sent to Waikato District Council for full treatment and chlorination that meet the correct water quality standards and then pumped into the tanks you see up by the expressway.
Those tanks hold about three days’ supply, and this fully treated water is distributed through the council’s water pipes into houses and users in TK, Rangiriri and Meremere. This water is potable and suitable for drinking and any household use.
Recent downpours in Otorohanga flooded the Waipa River and brought silt into the Waikato River at 15 times the normal sediment level. The alarms at the TKWA filters went off at 1am and our TKWA staff went in to alter the filter cycle to reduce blockage and ensure we were still able to supply water. Alarms seldom go off at convenient times in the day.
With a combination of altered filter backwash and bypassing the waterflow, levels were maintained and, after 48 hours, sediment returned to normal and filters resumed a normal cycle.
We all saw photos of the mud in the Waipa, and Waikato Rivers and this was caused by sediment buildup. The sediment is from the river and is mineral rather than biological so it does not cause problems for animals, but it may overload filters. If you have on site filters you may want to flush them, or replace them, if their flow has dropped down to a trickle.
It’s all back to normal now, but it does show the work that goes on at awkward times to keep water in your taps. Thanks to our team (and especially Mike Peters who was ‘first responder’ to the alarms) in keeping the water supply flowing.
By Chris Davies
