32 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Marlborough: Marlborough District Council - Simcox Construction T T Kelly Deeks Water supply upgrade boon for town The project will ensure Renwick has a safe and secure water supply that exceeds the current national drinking water standards. Construction is underway at Renwick’s new water treatment plant on Terrace Road, with the final stage of the $20 million project set to be commissioned this coming spring, bringing greater capacity and higher standards of drinking water to the small Marlborough town. The plant culminates a significant water supply upgrade project that began in 2008 with the drilling of new wells at Conders Bend Road, which created access to higher quality and easier to clean bore water. This was followed with the design and build of a new reservoir in 2020, and the installation of water meters in 2021, and a new water pipeline from the new wells to the reservoir and the nearby water treatment plant site was installed in 2022. Ongoing work includes the replacement of old and leaking asbestos cement water mains in the Renwick township. The water mains project has a 10 year timeframe, and Marlborough District Council is happy to announce more than 60% of the mains have been replaced in four years. Marlborough District Council projects engineer Mark Power says once all of the work is complete, Renwick will have a safe and secure water supply that exceeds the current national drinking water standards. “The existing water treatment plant was built in the 1970s and while it was suitable for its time, the population has since grown, and the drinking water standards have improved.” The existing plant treats about 40L of water per second, and the new plant will be able to treat 80L. “We’re doubling the capacity and we’ve taken into account future growth of the town.” The existing plant uses only chlorine to treat drinking water, but the new treatment plant will be pH correcting with a filtration membrane and a UV unit, with chlorination dosing to protect consumers and the distribution network once the water has left the treatment plant. Blenheim’s Simcox Construction is completing the water treatment plant’s civil and structural work. Once the building’s shell is complete, the fit out of the process equipment will be completed by specialist water treatment company Mason Engineering. The building has been designed by WSP New Zealand, which has worked on the project for the past three to four years. “WSP helped us get the resource consents and did all the public consultation. Before we did the final part of the design for the building, Mason Engineering had to source the process equipment as there is a lot of different equipment with different configurations, so we need to know what we were using to ensure we put all our penetrations in the right places.” The process equipment is now in Marlborough and will be installed later this year, with a huge amount of electrical work to go into the project. This project is the fifth water treatment plant development Mark has been involved in, and he says they have all been subtly different, with different ground conditions and different water quality. ”You can’t just pick up one treatment plant and put it somewhere else. “It can be pretty challenging, although everything is well planned you always find some unexpected things so we have to be quite flexible. “We have regular meetings with our contractors every two weeks and go through everything from health and safety, programming, supply, to quality, and I personally keep in touch with the neighbours.” 027 801 6489 Atawhai, Nelson groundbreakingcontracting@gmail.com Proudly associated with the Renwick Treatment Plant project Promoting Excellence in Landscape Design & Construction Proud supporters of Marlborough District Council Ph: 03 578 5264 | E: turfprofessionals@xtra.co.nz | A: 141 Battys Rd, Blenheim | W: marlboroughturfprofessionals.co.nz Brent 021 452 476 | Steve 021 452 475 • Lawn laying seed and instant turf • Hydro seeding & hydro mulching • Synthetic Turf • Landscape suppliers • Irrigation manual & auto supplied & installed • Cobble stone laying & concrete placing • Water features & ponds • All aspects of landscaping & more “The existing water treatment plant was built in the 1970s and while it was suitable for its time, the population has since grown...”
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