Spectacular shots of work to remove the rot from inside the filters of Christchurch's burnt-out wastewater treatment plant have been released, demonstrating the mammoth task ahead.
Diggers working at the burnt-out Bromley wastewater treatment plant. Photo:
The drone images and footage shared by the city council show a digger parked at the top of a ramp at the edge of one of the two trickling filters and another excavator inside pushing material to the wall so it can be scooped out.
A mister sprays water onto the filter media to suppress the dust.
Contractors are working 12 hours a day, six days a week to remove 26,000 cubic metres of material from the filters by September.
A wedge of around 1000 cubic metres has already been extracted, chipped, compacted and taken to the Kate Valley landfill where it is treated as hazardous waste.
The Bromley plant was badly damaged by fire last November, but work to remove the rotting material inside the filters only began last week.
An aerial shot on the wastewater plant. Photo: Christchurch City Council
Work ground to a halt on Tuesday because of mechanical failure with the compactor and generator, then resumed the following day.
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People who live near the plant have been forced to put up with the putrid stench coming from the filters and the oxidation ponds for months, but the council hopes the smell improves as the material is removed and special pumps improve the quality of effluent going into the ponds.
Gases including hydrogen sulphide have been detected in specialist air quality tests around the plant, which the council plans to monitor with more meters on site and in residential areas.