Thames South Water Improvements Project

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A $19.4 million water upgrade is planned over four years to make drinking water safer for rural households in Thames South.

Currently around 1,000 residents in Omahu, Matatoki, Pūriri, Hikutaia and Wharepoa receive reticulated untreated water from streams in the Thames South area..

Not only is the water these households receive below the water standard quality, residents also experience problems of erratic supply of water, particularly in heavy rain events when the river intake points become clogged. This affects the availability of supply to residents, schools and businesses.

Our Council has committed to the national water services regulator, Taumata Arowai, to rectify this situation before 2028.

The project will solve these issues, as well as meeting increased water needs from potential future development in the area.

Components

The improvements will consist of:

  • a new water intake at Pūriri River
  • two new reservoirs on the hills behind Pūriri Village (an access track will also need to be built to provide vehicle access to the reservoir sites)
  • a new, modern water treatment plant
  • ·new piping for reticulation of the treated water to households, including pipe upgrades and reconfigurations to connect different pressure zones and networks.

Project benefits

  • Water quality will be improved to comply with national Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules revised in 2022.
  • A constant supply of clean, safe water will flow following rain, as opposed to the current brown water.
  • Water flow will be enhanced in areas with erratic supply, increasing distribution capacity to 5,000 cubic meters (5 million litres) per day.
  • Reservoirs will balance daily fluctuations in demand and provide storage capacity to support supply during dry spells.
  • The water flow will enable sufficient firefighting capabilities in the built-up areas of Matatoki, Pūriri and Hikutaia.
  • Water loss will be reduced through new pipes.
  • The reduction of water flow problems will result in lower maintenance and operation costs.
  • The upgrade will enable future development of the area, facilitating economic prosperity.
  • The project will ensure the protection of the water source for future generations - we will carry out an ecological study on Pūriri River water.
  • There will be no requirement for an emergency water tanker as currently occurs when there is no potable water.

In order to part fund the work, water metering and charges will be introduced.

The physical work will begin in February – March 2026 with the construction of the access track and river intake.

Construction will take place in a staged process with work due to be completed in 2028.

 

 

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