A $14.5 million water supply upgrade is on the cards for Alexandra residents, but who will fund the project has yet to be decided.
Residents were recently asked their views on two options for the upgrade and a report before the Central Otago District Council today has suggested it choose the more expensive of the options, costing about $14.5 million.
In the report, council development engineer Peter Morton said the majority of the 255 submitters said limescale in the existing water supply was the main issue for them and they wanted a new source of domestic water, away from the closed landfill and old mine workings.
Submitters favoured a new water source that met the national drinking water standards as well as addressing the limescale problem, although it was not the cheapest option, he said. Alexandra residents have complained for many years about water quality.
The current supply is from six bores on the true left bank of the Clutha River near Eclipse St, near the closed landfill and old mine.
It does not meet national drinking water standards. Mr Morton said the focus of water investigations in the past five years was to evaluate potentially cheaper options before resorting to higher-cost options.
Although many households had installed water softeners to deal with hardness and scaling, this did not address the need for the supply to comply with national drinking water standards.
''Many submitters raised concerns about the affordability and funding of any upgrade,'' Mr Morton said.
Those matters would be covered when the council's long-term plan was developed.
The council has yet to set a policy for funding of water supply and wastewater upgrades.
It will consider whether those projects should be funded from ratepayers in the area who use those services or be spread across the users of all council-run water supply and wastewater schemes.
Mr Morton has recommended the council allow $14.5 million in its long-term plan for the Alexandra water project and look into a new source of low-limescale producing water, which would meet the drinking water standards.
The two sources being considered were from the river and from Lake Dunstan.
Depending on the one chosen, the cost of the project could be reduced.
Preliminary and design work on the project might be carried out from this financial year through to 2017-18 with the project implemented from 2018-20.
