Walkway smell for elimination

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 9

Walkway smell for elimination

A complaint of a bad smell by the steps on the Scarborough walkway has prompted the Christchurch Drainage Board to disconnect two septic tanks which discharged effluent over the edge of a steep cliff above Whitewash Head Road. The board plans to connect the properties to the Taylors Mistake public sewer. The board’s administration officer, Mr Norman Kelly, said a lot of money was being spent to remove the problem. The effluent was discharged into the sea at a very inaccessible area which was not used for any recreational purposes, he said. The two septic tanks serve properties at the top end of Whitewash Road, at the point of Sumner . > '

Head. The effluent lines pass under the steps on the Scarborough walkway. The chief engineer, Mr Peter Hunt, said there was no doubt there was an unpleasant smell there at times. The septic tanks had been in use for about 20 years. The Health Department was aware of the problem, he said. The effluent was treated from the tanks, but was “not the best.” There is a public sevter in Whitewash Head Road which is 82m from the two houses, and the operations committee recommended that the sewer be extended to within 30m and 60m of the properties, and the owners lay a drain to the sewer.