Roxburgh and Lake Roxburgh Village residents will next week be able to have their say on whether their towns' water supplies should be upgraded.
This week the Roxburgh Community Board called for public consultation on proposals to upgrade both water supplies, to upgrade only one, or to do nothing. That consultation is due to begin on October 12 and it will be open for one month.
A report presented to the board on the project estimated the cost of upgrading both supplies at $900,100, plus GST. To upgrade Roxburgh only was estimated at $531,200, plus GST, while Lake Roxburgh Village only would cost $368,900, plus GST.
Part of those costs would be offset by a Ministry of Health (MOH) grant from its drinking water capital assistance programme. In October 2009 the ministry confirmed that it was prepared to contribute $351,718 plus GST to upgrade the Roxburgh water supply and $33,869.69 plus GST to upgrade the Lake Roxburgh Village supply.
The report said that both water supplies have a a public health treatment grade of E, which meant there was an unacceptable level of risk to consumers.
"For the Roxburgh supply there are few public complaints regarding water quality. However, this is not the case for Lake Roxburgh Village's water supply, which is regularly on boil-water notices due to high turbidity events in the catchment."
Roxburgh Community Board chairman Stephen Jeffrey said although the upgrades involved a lot of money, which the community would have to find, to do nothing was risky, as it could mean losing the MOH funding.
There was no legal requirement for water supplies to the town to meet public health standards but this could change within three years, Mr Jeffrey said.
Something particularly needed to be done to improve the Lake Roxburgh supply, he said.
• Omakau's water problems have improved but it faces similar problems to the two Roxburgh supplies, Central Otago District Council water services manager, Russell Bond, said.
The boil-water notice in Omakau was lifted last week but the water supply was still at risk if the Manuherikia River, which supplies the town's water, became dirty, Mr Bond said. Work to improve the Omakau water supply was highlighted in the CODC's Long Term Council Community Plan, he said.
"The level of treatment required in Omakau is similar to that in Roxburgh, and affordability is also an issue."
