Residents will soon be seeing a lot more soap lather when they take a shower, Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan says. Photo: 123RF
Alexandra's new water supply means softer water and potentially softer hair for the town's residents.
Limescale has long been a thorn in the side of residents of the Central Otago town.
However, a $16.1 million upgrade to the water supply for Alexandra and Clyde will banish damaging hard water to the past.
"This water scheme is the biggest capital works project that Central Otago has ever undertaken," Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan said.
"It's really important, particularly for the people of Alexandra, who have suffered from high limescale in their water, basically, forever."
Years of trying to find an aquifer in the town had proven fruitless, but now water from Lake Dunstan would be treated and piped to both towns.
Tim Cadogan Photo: Supplied
One of the big differences people would notice would be shampooing their hair, Cadogan said.
"Where people will notice it first will be in the shower - they'll go to wash their hair and suddenly there'll be an awful lot of soap," he said.
"It's [the current supply] just hard water and hard water makes soap not foam up as much."
So would that translate to cost savings?
"I can only speculate as I haven't got a hair on my head but hopefully."
The initial budget for the project was $9.2 million, but the pandemic, inflation and the need for a superior filtration system had caused that to grow substantially.
However, over the coming decades it would be money well spent, Cadogan said.
"The people in Alexandra have said to us in public surveys for as long as I can remember water quality has been number one or number two - get it sorted."
The previous supply has caused issues for water heaters, pipes and appliances.
It would also save money in the long run having one water supply scheme for Alexandra and Clyde.
Clyde was already receiving water from the new scheme, while the softer water would be working its way through the pipes to Alexandra shortly.