The mysterious ‘‘sewagey, fishy'' smell that has pervaded the town off and on over the past 12 months has had many holding their noses and letting their imaginations run wild.
Since our articles last month on the unsavoury scent, The Courier's phone lines have been running hot.
Theories included the composting process at the Timaru District Council's Redruth site, the odour of fish and seaweed rotting on the beach, old disused sewer pipelines venting back into the city and overnight sewage backing up in the sewer pipes from the council's milliscreen plant at Seadown, north of Timaru.
But one suggestion has Ecan very interested, especially since several calls to the regional council and to the newspaper, prompted by our articles, have raised the same scenario - the smell may be coming from the city's stormwater drains because the extremely dry conditions over the last year had not produced enough water to regularly flush them. Residual matter in the stormwater system, which in times of heavy rain sometimes contained overflow sewage and wastewater, had become dry and smelly. A puff of wind up the stormwater outlets was stinking the town out, according to the theory.
Ecan, the local authority charged with the responsibility of monitoring and controlling odours in public places, still does not have any answers to Timaru's odour problem, but nor would it dismiss this latest suggestion.
Neither would the district council, although district services manager Ashley Harper thought it extremely unlikely.
‘‘Anything is possible. However, it is very unlikely that there are deposits of wastewater in the stormwater system because in the most unlikely event of wastewater getting into the stormwater system it is diluted so much that there will be no effect,'' Mr Harper said.
But Ecan senior enforcement officer Lance Corcoran was not so dismissive. He wants the council to lift a few lids around the city in his presence.
‘‘It's a good theory and a popular one. Several calls to our office since the articles were published have raised the same theory.
‘‘I've had quite a few calls and I will be in touch with the district council to see if, in conjunction with Ecan, we can test it out. We need to lift a few stormwater covers.''
Mr Corcoran said Ecan had not previously considered the stormwater drain possibility. It had concentrated its efforts on obvious primary sources.
‘‘We have checked out all holders of resource consents where it applies to smells from processing or factory operations and all are complying,'' Mr Corcoran said.
‘‘This one's really worth looking at. It just seems to make good sense.''
The Courier continues to receive calls and emails from residents in many parts of Timaru when the smell makes its whiffy presence. Most, though, report the smell and do not suggest a possible source.
Mr Corcoran said Ecan would continue to monitor reports of the odour and welcomed calls from the public.
