Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has received an abatement notice from Otago Regional Council (ORC) over performance of the Hāwea Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) but the council says there are “no adverse effects”.

The facility failed to achieve its 12-month rolling mean for nitrogen levels within treated wastewater discharged to its oxidation pond.

An abatement notice is issued by a controlling authority when there are violations of environmental laws, regulations, or resource consents, to prevent or remedy adverse environmental effects.

QLDC property and infrastructure general manager Tony Avery said while the breach and abatement notice are disappointing, environmental monitoring in Hāwea River showed there are no adverse effects associated with the treatment plant’s elevated nitrogen levels.

“Treated wastewater is discharged to land either via the facility’s land treatment area or an infiltration trench, both of which are located downstream from Lake Hāwea and ultimately drain through to Hāwea River,” he said. 

“As a priority, staff are exploring further measures to improve performance and to bring the plant back into full compliance with its consent conditions.”

Tony said QLDC had been aware of “fluctuating nitrogen levels” in the treated wastewater and it had attempted to resolve them through upgrades to the facility’s wastewater treatment processes in the “recent past”.

“While these changes have resulted in significant improvements, nitrogen remains above consented limits.”

Water quality sampling locations Hāwea Wastewater Treatment Plant

Hāwea’s existing wastewater treatment plant was built in 1998 and upgraded in 2000; but it doesn’t meet current demand and it has breached compliance for many years. Since 2022 loads of waste have been trucked each week from Lake Hāwea’s Longview subdivision to Project Pure - with the cost met by Longview developer Universal Developments.

Plans are in place to connect Hāwea to Project Pure/Wānaka Wastewater Treatment Plant, Tony said, part of the wider Upper Clutha Wastewater Conveyance Scheme project, which will see significant investment in wastewater management capacity across both the Hāwea and Wānaka schemes.

Funding for this project is included in the adopted QLDC Long Term Plan 2024-2034, with an overall budget of $80.1M which includes approximately $22M of funding from the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund.

PHOTO: Supplied