Rotorua Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade

Message from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council - RM18-0508: Rotorua Lakes Council:

Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Rotorua Lakes Council have received an application from the Rotorua Lakes Council (the applicant) for a suite of resource consents associated with the upgrade of the existing Rotorua Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the discharge of treated wastewater to the Te Arikiroa Channel of Lake Rotorua at Puarenga Bay (Sulphur Bay).

This resource consent application covers the works involved with upgrading the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the construction of a new land contact bed and discharge channel, in addition to the ongoing discharge of treated wastewater to the Te Arikiroa Channel of Lake Rotorua. Other associated consents to allow for the reuse of treated wastewater, the discharge of nutrients to the lake and contaminants (primarily odour) to the air from the Wastewater Treatment Plant are also sought.

Hard copies of the resource consent application can be inspected at the following locations:

1. Rotorua Library - 1127 Haupapa Street, Rotorua
2. Rotorua Lakes Council - 1061 Haupapa Street, Rotorua
3. Bay of Plenty Regional Council - 1125 Arawa Street, Rotorua

Submissions on these applications close at 5.00pm on Monday, 26th November 2018.

• Advert notification
• Submission form (customised)
• Resource consent application forms (830KB)
• Assessment of Enviromental Effects (17,823KB)
• Companion Document No.1 (4,226KB)
• Companion Document No.2 (26,922KB)
• Support Document No.1 - Project Rotorua Clean Water Proceedings (6,988KB)
• Support Document No.2 - Mott MacDonald Four Alternatives Reports (26,922KB)
• Support Document No.3 - ERI Report 80 Part 1 (32,094)
• Support Document No.3 - ERI Report 80 Part 2 (28,564)
• Support Document No.4 - ERI Report No.91(1,825KB)
• Support Document No.5 - RLCC EOCs MBR and Lake Rotorua (1,282KB)
• Support Document No.6 - Rotorua MRA Final April 2018 (3,783KB)
• Support Document No.7 - Te Arikiroa Thermal Channel Effects Assessments and Alternatives Considered Part 1 (37,469KB)
• Support Document No.7 - Te Arikiroa Thermal Channel Effects Assessments and Alternatives Considered Part 2 (18,545)
• Support Document No.7 - Te Arikiroa Thermal Channel Effects Assessments and Alternatives Considered Part 3 (23,333)
• Support Document No.8 - Project Consultation Information (8,480KB)
• Amended Land Contact Bed Design (1,001KB)

Māori knowledge (Matauranga Māori) has shaped the new design of the Water Restoration Land Contact Bed, which is proposed for the Rotorua Wastewater Treatment Plant.

It emulates the natural water cleansing processes of Mother Nature (Papatūānuku). The initial concept was designed by the

Rotorua Project Steering Committee’s Cultural Assessment Sub-Committee. Rotorua Lakes Council has also enlisted the help of Matauranga Māori experts to refine the initial concept, which can be seen in the video above.

Our current wastewater treatment plant:

The current process involves:
2/3 wastewater undergoes 5-stage Bardenpho biological treatment, 1/3 membrane bio-reactor (click on the image to make it larger):

Land Contact Bed Water Restoration
Treated wastewater leaves the plant and enters the contact bed system which emulates mother nature by purifying the waiparapara/ recovered water leaving it just short of drinking standard.

• Entering the system it goes through a bubbling water filtration process
• Followed by a series of rock and vegetation filtering bands
• A water fountain system to create turbulence and aeration follows
• Before the waiparapara moves across shallow water channels before entering a rock pool system
• Then moving to an aquatic life calming pond before being released through a rock filtration waterfall

In total, the new process will involve a full membrane bio-reactor process, with extra phosphorus removal and microfiltration plus UV light treatment. The blue circle indicates the point at which the wastewater reaches the Land Contact Bed Water Restoration system. (click on image below to enlarge):