The co-owner of the Hororata Village Bar and Cafe said almost every time it rains the water supply is issued with a boil or conserve water notice.
“It affects us constantly because we have to get fresh water in to run our coffee machines. We also need flushing toilets to stay open.”
This month there was a conserve water notice in place for the settlement for six days while the district council cleared the Selwyn River, where the water supply comes from.
The district council water team said recent heavy rain in the upper catchment resulted in an unusually large amount of mud, dirt and debris which came down the river and caused scouring of the banks near the state highway bridge in Glentunnel and near the water supply intake.
“The impact on water quality meant water could not be drawn from the river and the supply was running from the reservoir. The conserve water notice was issued when the reservoir level dropped,” a district council water team spokesperson said.
To keep the cafe operating as normal, Barrett said district council contractor CORDE delivered water to the cafe to fill up their tanks during conserve water notices.
In the past 12 months, Hororata has had one boil notice due to flooding and four conserve water notices, one due to flooding, two maintenance, and one during December due to high water demand.
However, issues with the supply may soon be not as frequent as work is under way to install another reservoir which which will add an additional 500m3 of storage.
“Planning is also under way to resupply the scheme from an adjacent water supply scheme, using a source which historically has been less prone to water quality challenges during rainfall events,” the spokesperson said.
“We’re hoping to begin this work in the next financial year, subject to funding through the Long-Term Plan 2023-2033 and consents.”
