Treated sewage is different - Bowel emptying in city pool

- Northern Advocate – 6 February 2009

- The Whangarei Report – 3 February 2009

Bowel emptying in city pool

Recently, in The Whangarei Report , Our Patch and Letter to the Editor in The Northern Advocate there were references to our sewage problems. The letter detailed a rather awful experience, someone emptying their bowel, at the swimming pool in Riverside. It was the third time this had happened to the writer’s family since the new facility opened. Everyone had to leave the pool. Lets face it human faeces does carry bacteria, diseases, viruses and sometimes parasites.

The letter writer stated that a lot of noise and fuss has been made about the council discharging raw sewage into the harbour and that at least in the harbour it gets to disperse, but not in the pool. Well yes, but there is a huge difference between the volumes discharged so the dilution ratio could be similar. Let’s not forget that a stream in the middle of town may suffer raw sewage discharges also.

The Mayor’s article states that other parts of the country are discharging sewage. Does that make it right? Searching the internet it appears that a very high percentage of other areas are at least discharging treated sewage. There is a big difference! With this and many other facts I could highlight, if space permitted, I fully understand why so many people have gotten up in arms. If readers can lay their hands on a draft copy of the council’s Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) then they will see how much Council thinks an acceptable level to be spent on our sewage infrastructure is, should it go unopposed. Yes, public consultation may see more spent but I doubt it if this is the level of influence previous input from residents and retailers has had. This problem has been on going for far too long.

I agree that the pool experience is unacceptable. If not an accident and someone through health issues is unable to control their anatomy then they need to find somewhere else to go, seek some medical assistance with their problem and only visit public amenities once it is resolved. This would be the respectful thing to do. However, with the examples set by some today in concern to shared environments, some being the very ones who create the standards for others to live by, appear to have their priorities misdirected and with those that demand better standards being called radicals, then little wonder such inconsideration exists.

P.S If you don’t like unacceptable sewage discharges either, please submit to the council’s LTCCP and let your council know how you feel.

Pat Slater

Maunu