Fairton township could be connected to Ashburton’s drinking water supply by the end of June, following a decision this week to retire the 101m Fairton water supply bore.

A new 2.5km pipeline will be installed on Company Road and Fairfield Road, to deliver water from Ashburton to Fairton’s existing pipe network. The extension of Ashburton’s drinking water network means a planned upgrade of Fairton’s water treatment plant is no longer needed.

Infrastructure and Open Spaces Group Manager Neil McCann said Council’s engineering consultants had been asked to begin the pipeline design and it should be ready for pricing by the end of February.

“We’ll aim to start work as soon as a contractor can be mobilised and expect the job to be completed by 30 June.”

The estimated cost of the work is about $975,000 – it involves laying 180mm diameter polyethylene pipe along the road sides to the existing Fairton water treatment plant, where booster pumps will deliver it into the Fairton pipelines.

“It’s likely that Fairton and Ashburton people will notice no difference in terms of levels of service,” Mr McCann said.

“We will be retaining the pressure pump system at Fairton to ensure the township gets the same pressure and flow they’ve always had, and we’ll repurpose as much of the old water treatment plant as possible at other sites.”

The planned upgrade for the Fairton plant was to include new filtration and ultra-violet treatment equipment to make it compliant with new national drinking water standards.

Ashburton’s water treatment plants are also on track to be upgraded to meet the new standards, which require more stringent monitoring and real-time water quality testing, as well as UV treatment.