Water tanks to the rescue

Tanked: Emergency management officer Trevor Farmer is dwarfed by the 25,000 litre water tank recently installed at Discovery School, one of many being installed in the city's suburbs and which could one day save lives.

Relevant offers

Kapi-Mana News

Midnight Express off track Festival of the Elements a melting pot of colour and cultures Dearth of kids data irks mayor Manufacturer puzzled by fake press release Porirua's 10-year-plan next smartphone trend? Pay & display parking hits Porirua Disabled bus traveller gets rough treatment Failure to fill youth role a sign of what's to come, fears Kropp Wakepark wading through paper Councils struggle with dog attacks

Discovery School has one, and so do the hall at Ngatitoa Domain and Pukerua Bay School.

They will prove crucial in case of an emergency, likely saving lives, and the hope is for 40 to be eventually dotted around Porirua.

They are water tanks, of the 25,000 litre variety.

They collect rainwater and are part of Porirua City Council's strategy to ultimately have one million litres of water available in the community.

Porirua is entirely dependent on water from the Hutt River system and in the case of any pipe failure from a large earthquake, the city could be without a proper water supply for weeks, or in the worst case, months.

Costing about $2500 each and having to be shipped from Auckland, and with talks still to be held with some schools about placing them on their grounds, the tanks won't all be set up tomorrow.

But PCC's emergency management officer, Trevor Farmer, says the response has been positive, and he is confident the council can get most installed in the next few years as its budget allows.

He's not aware of any other council in New Zealand taking these measures.

"We want them to be in people's faces so they know where they are in Porirua."

With this region's wet climate, they should not take long to fill  Discovery School's has been in just two months and Mr Farmer is happy with how much has already been collected.

PCC recently took delivery of the second batch and they can now be found at Plimmerton, Tairangi, Porirua East and Ngati Toa schools too.

The schools are an obvious choice for situating them, as they often double as civil defence centres in case of emergency.

"Each school has its own community, so it makes perfect sense. That way the water is accessible by a wider range of people," Mr Farmer says.

Mungavin Hall has four 5000 litre tanks because there wasn't enough room to place one big one there.
Hoses and other attachments will be kept in easily located places like the school office, but ordinary garden hose connections will also work.

Mr Farmer points out that drops of a bleaching agent like Janola would have to be added to the water before it was consumed, as it would have run off a roof, possibly through bird droppings and over leaves and twigs before entering the tank.

People should not be satisfied that the water in these tanks will see them through an emergency, however, with Mr Farmer advising each household should have its own supply.

He has a tank that can capture 1000 litres and hopes to install more. He will use some of it in summer, when there is the most pressure on the region's water supplies.

"Everyone should be looking at ways to store water. If there is a disaster, they say you need three litres per person per day to survive.

"I would suggest it's more like seven [litres]  in our everyday life we use about 14, and that's not counting showers."

Newest First

Oldest First