Resources: Water



Auckland’s freshwater comes from dams, rivers and underground aquifers in the region. Contaminants such as debris and micro-organisms are present in this water, and thus needs to be filtered at treatment facilities prior to consumption.

Auckland is beginning to have issues surrounding it’s freshwater – which has turned into a nationwide debate. As with any growing, metropolitan city, urban waterways are contaminated by the cities’ expansion. Rural land use practices, power generation and general pollution are driving factors in the issue.

After a particularly bad storm in 2017 dubbed the ‘Tasmanian Tempest’, the Ardmore treatment plant stopped working for a short period and then functioned at low capacity when landslips and silt clogged the filters. The mass amounts of silt were due to deforestation in the Hunua Ranges – without forests to hold the earth together, soil washed into reservoirs. The water plant has since been upgraded so that it has a higher resilience to these types of events, however the capacity, or maximum output has not. As this plant processes 60% of Auckland’s city water, it’s crucial that it continues working, especially when considering the cities rapid population growth and that demand will increase.
Ardmore Treatment Facility. Retrieved from: Watercare / https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/328036/auckland-water-shortage-crisis-over

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