Seddon takes step closer to clean water

Monday, 24 July 2017

Seddon residents should be able to drink water straight from the tap once the treatment plant is completed by May.

Clean water will no longer be a pipe dream for Seddon residents after the council awarded the contract for construction of a treatment plant.

The $4.4 million project to filter the town's drinking water has been contracted for design and construction by Filtration Technology Ltd.

The national water firm is scheduled to begin work at the Wakefield St site in October.

Once completed in May, the plant will provide compliance with national drinking water standards, which should lift the township's boil water notice.

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Marlborough District Council made the tender announcement on Thursday following a lengthy process to supply clean water to the township's 200 households.

Seddon was the only water supply in New Zealand that had E coli O157 in the water on two occasions between 2005 and 2006.

The council has tried to install a water treatment scheme since 2008.

Water in the town took another blow in June after small, brown bits of algae were found to clog up pipes and block water filters.

The algal outbreak was the first of its kind to hit the Marlborough town's water supply but was not dangerous.

The water treatment plant was being partly funded by a $1m government subsidy and council reserves.

The remaining cost would be met by a capped annual charge for households on the Seddon water scheme, and a charge spread across the region's rates bill.