Firefighters to get new pump after water pressure issues discovered

Firefighters in the Canterbury town of Culverden will finally get a new water pump, more than a year after water pressure issues were discovered during testing.

The water pump was found to be non-compliant during a flow test by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) in April 2024.

During the FENZ test, water pressure exceeded the protection settings which forced the system to shutdown, cutting off the township’s water supply for around 20 minutes.

The protection system has since been reconfigured to make it less sensitive, but the installed pumps couldn't meet the flow rates required under the FENZ code of practice.

The Hurunui District Council voted to upgrade the town's water treatment plant at a meeting on Tuesday [June 17], at a cost of up to $78,000.

Council three waters field operations manager Alex Makogon said Culverden’s water supply was reconfigured two years ago as part of a protozoa compliance upgrade.

‘‘Culverden experiences highly variable water consumption, making pump selection challenging.’’

A low density pipe protection system was installed to prevent damage, making it quite sensitive to pressure, he said.

Council chief operations officer Dan Harris said while there was no legal requirement to comply with FENZ's code of practice, completing the upgrade will provide more resilience in an emergency.

‘‘Our own requirement is that we will do what is reasonably practical to meet the code of practice.’’

A district-wide compliance report was commissioned, and confirmed the majority of other schemes in the district are compliant, he said.

The council will complete pump upgrades, install a new generator, replace variable speed drives and upgrade the treatment plant’s power supply.

As part of the upgrade, the council plans to repurpose the equipment.

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.