Frimley water treatment and storage

Hastings District Council has embarked on a comprehensive upgrade of its drinking water supply to ensure it is treated to the highest possible standards – safe drinking water is our highest priority. As well as advanced treatment, the upgrade includes water storage to provide capacity and resilience, especially in times of emergency or natural disaster. It is also intended to help us manage water during periods of high use (e.g. high summer) so that demand is met from treated water stored in the reservoir, rather than drawing it directly from the aquifer. This is about future-proofing our drinking water supply to ensure we always have enough safe drinking water for our urban residents. The best, safest, most cost-effective and efficient way to achieve this is for our water treatment and storage facilities to be located as close as possible to the existing water supplies.

Frimley is one of two areas from which Hastings’ urban water supply is sourced. The other is Eastbourne St in the city, where further storage is proposed.

Frimley Park already contains drinking water infrastructure (constructed circa 1960) including a water treatment building, bores and pipework, with elements nearing the end of their life and due for replacement. It’s important the new storage is in the vicinity of the existing network to retain the groundwater quantity, quality, and capacity requirements.

When investigating potential sites it was evident it would be very challenging to find another appropriate-sized area within the Frimley suburb to meet the need of being located near to the water supply.

Investigations into the Frimley Park site started in early 2019, and we have informed and engaged with the community on our plans through various platforms since that time. This has included:

• Public Council meetings during 2019
• Open Day in the Park in October 2019
• Letters to immediately affected residents
• Letters to residents within Frimley area
• Media coverage to wider community
• Publically notified resource consent process. This proposal was publically notified in January this year and there was one submission received in opposition, other feedback was supportive.

Hastings’ existing water supplies are all in or near urban areas where there is access to water and to the urban network, i.e. Flaxmere Park, Frimley Park, Havelock North hills, and Eastbourne Street. This kind of infrastructure is not typically situated in the urban industrial areas of the district as it needs to be where there was no risk of potential contamination from industrial activities.

We recognise that Frimley Park is a valued open space and therefore any facility in this location must be appropriately sited and designed to avoid, remedy and mitigate any potential effects, particularly in regard to visual amenity and the qualities of the park.

The tank itself, and an ancillary building to house pumps and treatment facilities, is discreetly located within a less frequented section of Frimley Park, adjacent to the Hastings Girls High School boundary, with well-established trees being the primary mitigation. Further planting is proposed to lessen the visibility of the works. This includes creating a formal avenue of trees along the original driveway to further mitigate visual impacts.

VIEW THE FRIMLEY PARK VISUALISATION PACKAGE HERE

The proposed water treatment plant will be fully compliant with district noise requirements. The nearest dwellings are more than 100m from the proposed site. Existing Council water treatment facilities in other areas are much closer to residential dwellings than those proposed at Frimley Park, so noise is not expected to disrupt neighbours.

Frimley Park is 19.17 ha and the proposed water treatment plant area is 0.20 ha or one per cent of the total park area.  Located next to Hastings Girls High School, the project proposes removing the existing maintenance yard from the high profile area in the middle of the park. This is about 0.20 ha in size, and the intention is for this area to be returned to park land.

Frimley Park was gifted to Hastings District Council by the Williams family in 1951, with the original water supply bores and water treatment building being established in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Descendants of the Williams family have been involved in the most recent water infrastructure proposals for the park.

How will the project facility affect Frimley Park and its neighbours?

Frimley Park is 19.17 hectares in size. The water infrastructure will take approx. 0.20 hectares or one per cent of the total park area. This project also commits to the removal  of the  existing maintenance sheds from the park. This space, near the playground and also measuring approx.  0.20 hectares, will then be further developed and returned as parkland. Additional specimen tree planting is proposed  to minimise the visual impact of the buildings.
Any noise from the plant will be mitigated by careful design and be fully compliant with District noise requirements, with the nearest homes more than 100m from the proposed site.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VIEW THE FRIMLEY PARK WATER SUPPLY OVERVIEW

Why is this work important?

Enhanced water treatment and storage will make our drinking water supply safer and more resilient, and reduce our reliance on continuously extracting drinking water from the aquifer to meet consumer demand. The benefits of the proposed work include:

• Enhanced barriers to contamination and improved ability to continuously monitor the water source.
• Improved resilience in times of natural disaster or network breakdown by establishing a store of water we can draw on.
• Better management of water during periods of high use (e.g. high summer) so demand is met from the treated water stored in the reservoir rather than relying on being able to pump water fast enough directly from the aquifer.
• Reduced pressure within the pipe network to minimise leakage and stresses on our pipe assets

 How did we select the Frimley site?

The best, safest, most cost-effective and efficient sites for our water treatment and storage facilities are located as close as possible to the existing water supplies.

Council went through a detailed site selection process before presenting proposed sites to councillors and then to the public. The following criteria had to be considered:

• How close the potential site was to existing water sources (ideally as close as possible).
• Whether the new infrastructure could connect easily to the main arterial water supply pipe network.
• Whether there was an ability to use existing infrastructure (where appropriate).
• Whether the site was well removed from any potential contamination sources, e.g. not in an industrial area.
• Whether there was enough space for new infrastructure.

Taking all of this into account and after full consideration of a number of options, the proposed site on Frimley Park was selected.  (The same process was used to select the Eastbourne site, on the corner of Southampton Street East and Hastings Street South.)

Where will it be on the park and what will it look like?

The preferred site is at the southern end of Frimley Park, next to Hastings Girls High School. This is close to existing water sources and pipes. It is a more remote and lesser used area of the park and has established trees that, with additional planting, will reduce the visual impact of the works for nearby residents, park users and passers-by.
The construction includes an 8000m3 reservoir of 38m diameter and 9m tall vertical walls with a 6m domed roof,  with an additional water treatment building housing associated pumps, filtration, chlorination and UV treatment infrastructure.

SEE VISUALISATIONS OF THE FACILITY FROM DIFFERENT VANTAGE POINTS HERE