Gisborne - Drainwise: Jetting maintenance beginning

Council is progressing maintenance on its wastewater network this week. Contractors from Intergroup begun flushing the Eastern Interceptor pipeline this week.

The cleaning programme involves checking what is currently in the pipeline, clearing it with high pressure water jets, collecting materials cleared and re-checking to make sure it’s completely cleared.

Work around the Carnavon Rd- Anzac Street – Churchill Park area is starting this week. As much as possible the contractors will be working during the day in residential areas and through the night in commercial areas to reduce the impact on businesses during the day and residents at night.
Those people who might be affected have been notified in person or will have received a letter in their letter box.

Please be aware that there will be traffic management in place during the day in affected areas, and contractors will be operating at night in urban areas.

The interceptors are the main trunk pipelines that transport wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant. An interceptor can carry a third or more of the city’s wastewater, so if it doesn’t function properly a lot of people can potentially be affected.

Water Utilities Manager, Neville West says, “Flushing parts of the network is a proactive approach to preventing incidents like we had in Oak Street earlier this year.”

In May, a dry weather wastewater discharge was caused by a number of household and foreign items clogging wastewater pipes along Oak Street. While the blockage was cleared by contractors, the scour valves were opened into the Taruheru River to prevent wastewater backing up onto private property.

“Clearing out the pipeline will help us better understand what has entered our wastewater network, and improve our ability to measure its performance in future.”

“It’s a good reminder for everyone to be aware of what they’re flushing down the toilet and tipping down the drain. The more foreign objects that wind up in our network, the more likely we’ll get blockages and overflows.” Said Mr West
Common items that enter the wastewater system that shouldn’t be there are:
- Wet-wipes
- Towels
- Childrens toys
- Rocks and concrete
- Cutlery
- Fat from cooking

Maintenance and renewal of council’s wastewater network is another function of the DrainWise major project, which focuses on reducing wastewater overflows on private properties and discharges into our rivers.
To learn more about what should be going into drains and how it affects our wastewater network, please visit our DrainWise major project page on www.gdc.govt.nz/drainwise

ENDS

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