Pollution Of Halswell River Being Examined

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29744, 10 February 1962, Page 10

Pollution Of Halswell River Being Examined

Regular fortnightly checks on the level of pollution in the Harwell River are being carried out for the Health Department by the Dominion Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

According to the senior inspector of health (Mr J. B. Snoad). the river is “polluted from end to end” by cow-byre drainage household sullage road washings, rubbish old timber, septic tank outfalls and seepages, offal human sewage from privy pails, and decomposing animal carcases “People who five beside the river say they have seen almost everything come floating down except a horse and from what we have seen we quite believe them” said Mr Snoad He added that half a dozen families took their drinking water from the river. He had advised them to make other arrangements The Halswell River’s outfall is in Lake Ellesmere The survey was started at the request of the Halswell County Council, which plans to put into the river the outIflow of its projected sewage | plant for the Halswell townI ship.

Yesterday, a reporter walking along the stretch of the new river course below the Duckpond road bridge at Motukarara saw old tins, old bottles, bits of household furniture, and two rotting sheep carcases stuck in

accumulations of slimy weed. Ditches emptying into the river carried fowl carcases and assorted rubbish lying half-buried in mud or stagnant pools. A North Canterbury Catchment Board dragline is clearing out the river along this stretch, starting from its mouth at Lake Ellesmere. The chief engineer of the catchment board (Mr H M. Reid) said his staff often nad to pull decomposing animal carcases out of the Halswell a- fitches leading into it. and thit was a ‘most disagreeabl» task” Only a few days ago two sheep were taken from a ditch and found to have their legs tied, which ruled out the possibility of theii having fallen in The board would have no hesitation in prosecuting the owners of such animals, where ownership could be established. The Halswell county clerk (Mrs R, Ballintine) said that 4

nothing was definite yet about the sewerage project. The county had had a report from its consulting engineers and was now seeking the opinions of the catchment board and Health Department.

Mr Snoad said the samples being taken from the river were coming from four points —in the Knight’s stream tributary at the Saby’s road bridge and from the Halswell itself at the Candy’s road. Rhodes road, and Duckpond road bridges. “Spot” samples taken from various points on the river at different times had revealed a high degree of pollution.

Mr D. J. Hogan, who is carrying out the survey at the Dominion Laboratory, said that two parallel groups o- tests were being used. One was the serial dilution technique, which had been used successfully for many years The other was a new technique using a cellulose membrane filter The results of the established technique would be taken as standard and those from the other compared so that its accuracy could be assessed.

The survey would be carried on for at least six months.