Alexandra residents can circle Christmas 2022 on their calendars as the expected date for when they can turn their tap on to an improved quality of water supply.

Central Otago District Council has awarded a contract for supply and installation of the membrane plant for the Lake Dunstan Water Supply treatment to Pall Marshall Water Consortium for $3.7 million.

Due to international supply and shipping issues, the membranes are expected to take nine months to arrive from the manufacturer Pall in Germany, five to install and six weeks to commission.

Based on this timeline, the current go-live date for the Lake Dunstan Water Supply project is expected to be December 2022. 

Negotiations are currently underway with other key suppliers and contractors to enable construction to commence on the remaining project components.

“There is no doubt that Alexandra folk have been waiting a long time for higher quality water and many are disappointed that the pipes to supply that water from the Clyde bore head have been in the ground for so long with no water flowing through them,” Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan says. 

The Lake Dunstan Water Supply Project was consulted on in the 2018 Long-term Plan and installation of the pipeline to carry the water from the bore site at Clyde to the treatment plant in Alexandra at the Northern Reservoir began in May 2019 and was completed in July 2020. 

Construction of the new treatment plant was originally scheduled to be completed by mid-2020, but was delayed by both the discovery of Lindavia algae in Lake Dunstan and need for further consideration for the project’s filtration system, as well as Covid-19 setbacks. 

The revised date of Autumn 2022 completion has now been further extended due to international supply and shipping issues related to the continued impact of Covid.

“The unexpected discovery of Lindavia in the lake, and the need to undertake trials to ensure filtration as required under the Drinking Water Standards could efficiently and affordably be achieved, has added over a year to the project,” Mayor Tim says. 

“Lindavia would not only have blocked the filtration system proposed before the trials but would also have blocked people’s home irrigation systems, so this was a good problem to find out about early.

“This discovery, combined with delays caused by Covid lockdowns and related supply issues, means the project is well behind schedule but Council remains committed to completing the project, bringing better quality water to Alexandra, and bringing Clyde and Alexandra in line with the Drinking Water Standards.”