Christchurch Water

Christchurch Water

1. Christchurch stormwater :

 - What is it? - Stormwater is water that comes from the rain. It runs off of roof tops, parking lots, streets, yards, sidewalks, and fields.
                                  
  - Where does it go? - If stormwater cannot sink into the ground, it flows around the surface of the ground, finding its way into a storm drain. The purpose of storm drains is to prevent flooding of the streets. These storm drains quickly transfer stormwater into natural bodies of water, such as, lakes, rivers, oceans, streams, etc. The problem with this is that the pollutants that the stormwater carry, also go into our natural waterways.
                                  
  - What contaminates it? -  Things that get into it that shouldn't be in it. For example, if you were to litter in the outside gutters, then it would contaminate the stormwater when it goes into the gutters. Another example would be, when you are washing your car and you wash it on the driveway and or street, the soap that you use will eventually go into the gutters, thus contaminating it. That is why it is best to just wash your car on the lawn, so that it soaks in the grass. 

2. Christchurch wastewater :

 - What is it? - Wastewater, also called sewage, is water that comes from your toilets, showers, drains, sinks, etc.
                                 
  - Where does it go? - Christchurch wastewater flows by gravity, in pump stations, which pump the waters in low areas around the city. Five terminal pump stations then pump all the flow to the treatment plant.There are a total of 239 pump stations, lift stations, and vacuum stations located around Christchurch. All stations are connected by radio to a main control room and monitored by a team at Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant. 


                                 
   - What contaminates it? - Things that shouldn't be in the water.  eg. Water from toilets, basins, showers, your kitchen, industrial industries, etc.
           
3. Where does Christchurch get its water? - People say that Christchurch's water supply is one of the best in the whole entire world - with untreated drinking water available straight from the tap. Christchurch's underground aquifers mean that residents around Christchurch continue to enjoy an untreated water supply from natural underground reservoirs. The water that comes from here is used to supply the Christchurch urban area, Lyttleton, Diamond Harbour, and Governors Bay. 




4. Where does Auckland's water supply come from?
Aucklands water supply comes from their dams. The dams are located mainly in Hunua and Waitakere ranges. Together, they supply 80%  of the region's drinking water.  The other 20% comes from the Waikato river, and the water here is dealt with very carefully. 
5. What waterborne diseases and parasites can we catch in nz? 
Here in NZ, we can catch :

• E.coli - This is found in poop. 
• Giardia

6. Christchurch's wastewater is treated after use. 

• Where is it treated?
  What are the steps involved in treating it?
• What happens at each step? 
• How long does each step take?
• Where does the treated wastewater go?

7. Small towns do not always treat their wastewater in the same way as Christchurch. Name a small town that has a wastewater treatment system. How do they treat their water? Is it as good as Christchurch's system?