Water quality is linked to water consumption, by that I mean how drinkable and/or available water is depends on how we are using our water.  If we suck it out of the ground faster than it can be put back (which is happening all the time), then it can become full of minerals and salts, which aren’t very good for plants and soils.  If we contaminate places where there is fast moving groundwater, like in underground caves, water will become quickly polluted elsewhere.

Well, here is Part 2 and 3 of the Dunedin Water Podcast series.  Part 2 looks at the first stage of the DCC’s Water Conservation Management Plan (WCMP), and Part 3 explains about the second stage and then wraps up the series.

Part 2

Part 3

Click here to listen to Part 1

The water that we see on the surface (known as surface water), like lakes, streams and rivers, only accounts for ~1.5% of all the water in rocks and sediments underground.  This groundwater can surface as a spring, supply water to surface streams and lakes (usually below the water level) and even flow as streams in underground caves.

 

While surface water tends to be cloudy with sediment, groundwater is relatively clear and is a good source of drinking water for communities and individual dwellings.  In dry regions, groundwater may be the major or only source of water.

The amount of running water on the ground when there is a rainstorm depends on the maximum rate that soil and other surface things can soak up water. If it is able to soak up water as fast as it falls, there is no runoff but when it is not as fast or the soil fills up, the extra water collects at the surface and if it is on a hill, down it goes, either in streams or rivers.

What is the Three Waters Strategy (TWS)?  It’s the DCC’s plan to provide direction for the management of Dunedin’s water in the three areas of water, wastewater and stormwater in the next 50 years.  So the TWS is basically looking at the most effective and sustainable ways of meeting Dunedin’s current and future needs.

  With the first round of asking Dunedinites what they think in 2007, the DCC are currently making a draft which is likely to be released early next year (2010).  It will address things like the impact of climate change, and whether education or making new rules (legislation) will help Dunedinites change their water-using habits.

“For a city that promotes the purity of its environment and the wonders of its natural world, the quality of Dunedin’s drinking water leaves a lot to be desired.”

So said the Otago Daily Times in September, 1994, in an article called ‘Why Dunedin water is so poor?’, which was investigating why Dunedin’s water was not up to scratch, compared with the rest of the country. 

The previous year, the Ministry of Health introduced a new grading system and evaluated all the major drinking water supplies in New Zealand, leading to Dunedin’s water gaining an overall grade of ‘Ee‘ – the lowest possible grade.  ‘Double E’ meant ‘completely unsatifactory – a very high level of risk (of containing disease-causing bacteria, like giardia – a particularly nasty stomach bug)’.

And why was the water so bad?  Well, not bad by “Third-World” standards, since there was no really nasty bugs like cholera and typhoid, but the main factors were a lack of keeping an eye out for microbiological bugs, ‘cross-connections’, hydrant damage, shoddy repairs, ancient  pipes (that took the water everywhere), not enough water storage areas and inconsistent water pressure.

While the Dunedin City Council was reviewing the water system in response to this and planning to improve the system with upgrades and the like, sales of water filters and mineral water soared and a lobby group was formed – The Clean Water Action Committee – to address the fact that while Dunedinites supported an upgrade of the system, there was little being done.

WATER = LIFE

 

Human bodies are roughly 70% water (but not like a bottle full of water!), with every single part of our bodies using water, even down to the cells that we are made of.  We’ll survive about a week with no food but only a few days without water. 

 

In fact, most things that live on Planet Earth need some form of water to survive, and without water the Earth could look pretty boring – like the moon even!  Water in the Hydrological Cycle moves around, keeping plants and animals alive, providing places for some to live, and also wears down rocks and mountains providing fresh sediments like mud and sand for places like beaches, and keeping mountains from getting too high (the Rock Cycle).

 

On land, most animals and plants need freshwater, including us, and out of all the water in the world, there is less than 1% is freshwater that is possibly okay to drink and use for our daily needs.  We think we see a lot of water on the surface of the Earth, like in streams, lakes and rivers but a far greater amount is under the ground, being held in and moving through small pore spaces in the sediments and rocks underneath us.  This Groundwater is usually slow-moving and we are doing a lot of damage to this natural system by overuse and contamination of these water sources.

We all need to know enough about how water systems work and how easily we affect them so that it won’t come as such a surprise when our limited freshwater supply starts to run out in the face of rising populations, increased land use and whatever else the future throws at us.  To use a familiar saying – forewarned is forearmed.

It may sound a bit scary but the Hydrologic Cycle simply refers to the recycling of water from the oceans, up through the atmosphere (the sky and above), back down onto the land around us (rain, snow and hail) and back into the oceans (through rivers, streams, and groundwater paths).

This has absolutely no relation to Dunedin Water but I recently spent a weekend at Stewart Island, and being awake really early on the Sunday morning, I decided to record the amazing surrounds.

It’s a pretty long podcast/soundscape but quite soothing (there is the occasional camera click as the scenery lightened with the morning sun meant pictures needed to be taken!) and I’m looking forward to going back down to the island, hopefully for longer next time.

Some of the birdcall is from the kakas (native parrots) and bellbirds and points for anyone who knows any of the other calls!

Sunday Morning on Stewart Island

For a quick overview of Dunedin water – where it comes from, who looks after it, and so on, here is Part 1 of the Dunedin Water series.  Parts 2 and 3 will be up later this week.