The toxicity of our city
16/08/2006 12:00:00 a.m.
Is Waitangi Park toxic?
A warning sign discouraging people from touching the stream surrounding Waitangi Park went up this month.
The project suffered a $4.9 million budget blow out and a break with the original contractor after elevated lead contamination was discovered beneath the site.
However Wellington Waterfront Limited (WWL) communications person Barbara Bercic says most of the contaminated soil was removed from the site and is not a danger or of concern following heavy rain.
"If it is in the ground it can’t do anything to you," she says.
Bercic says the signs are warning against the danger of toxic animal faeces building up in the wetlands.
"Spikes in toxicity levels may be caused by dog and seagull poo."
She is not aware of any other Wellington parks where this danger is signposted.
"We put the sign up to err on the side of caution because we can’t guarantee the water quality is going to be fine all the time."
The wetlands at Waitangi Park are presently fed from the main water supply. Wellington City Council and Wellington Regional Council are seeking resource consent to flood the wetlands from stormwater drains.
There were warnings when the park was designed that it would suffer stormwater/sewage overflow but Bercic says this will not be a problem once the stormwater system becomes operational.
"No sewage can get into the wetland. If there is ever a release into the stormwater system, which happens three or four times a year, Capacity (the company that mans the pump) will shut the pump off from the wetland."
The filtration process, which includes UV disinfection, will result in a 90–99% reduction in bacteria in the water.
"By the time it gets into the waterway it is almost drinkable," Bercic says.
She says it is hard to say how ill a child could get should they ingest water from the park.
"If they fell in half a dog poo then they might get quite sick."
