The annual East Clive wastewater treatment plant open day is being held this Saturday – a chance to find out how the plant works and how it’s been performing over the last year.

Hastings District Council will host the annual open day at the plant on Richmond Road, East Clive, from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, November 24.

Between 35,000 and 70,000 cubic metres of wastewater goes through the treatment plant every day. There are much larger flows during the height of the horticultural season, from January through to April.

Open day visitors will see the initial screening process (which removes solids), the pumping process, a video of the way the trickling filters work, and samples of the treated wastewater.

Once treated the water goes through a cultural process which passes it through the Rakahore Channel. That reconnects the water with Papatuanuku before it is pumped approximately three kilometres out to sea and dispersed through a 300m long diffuser.

That cultural process along with the technical aspects of the plant has seen it win several awards over the nine years it has been in operation.

The annual monitoring report for June 2017 to June 2018 found that that the current treatment and discharge through the ocean outfall was compliant with resource consent conditions and also provided for a an environmentally and culturally acceptable, sustainable and economic solution for wastewater treatment from the Hastings District Council.

At last year’s event feedback from the public was positive with comments that it was “very educational”, “very interesting and informative” and noting the plant was a “good system working well.”

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