Sewage restoration given top priority

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Plans for the reconstruction of earthquake damaged parts of Christchurch are slowly taking shape as priority is given to restoring fundamental services to residential areas of the city.

Earthquake Impacts on the Heathcote-Avon Estuary

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and the sewage outfall diversion have had profound impacts on the Heathcote-Avon Estuary

Christchurch rebuild much more pricey than predicted

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Earthquake Recovery Minister has revealed the rebuild of Christchurch's damaged sewage and water pipes will be quite a bit more expensive than predicted.

Christchurch water problems to continue for months

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The company which runs Christchurch's water and sewage systems says it expects supply and wastewater problems in the wake of the earthquake to appear for at least the next six months.

Council allays public fears of sewerage damage to CHCH waters

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Experts trying to restore Christchurch's busted sewerage system have faced up to concerned residents about what happened when raw sewage was allowed to flow directly into the sea in the months after the February earthquake.

Quake Mossies

Audio, Radio New Zealand

As if the crumbling ceilings, broken sewage pipes and torn up roads weren't enough for the people of North Christchurch to deal with, now there's a new problem that may be caused by the September earthquake: Mosquitoes. Pines Beach and Kairaki residents say black clouds of mosquitoes are descending on them at dusk and dawn.

Christchurch's tale of two rivers

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Ōtakaro-Avon and Ōpāwaho-Heathcote in Christchurch are some of the most polluted in the region.  While the Avon has received a lot of attention since the Canterbury Earthquakes with $100 million going into a new promenade and cleaning up its water quality, it's a different story for the Heathcote River where raw sewage and industrial chemicals are still regularly found. Niva Chittock reports.

Our Changing World - Heathcote Avon Estuary

Audio, Radio New Zealand

For many years the Heathcote-Avon estuary was the dumping ground for Christchurch's sewage. Then, in 2010, the wastewater was diverted well out to sea, via a long pipe. David Schiel from the University of Canterbury and John Zeldis from NIWA were investigating the effects of this diversion on the health of estuary when the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes happened, re-engineering both the estuary and their experiments.

Our Changing World - Heathcote River Recovery

Audio, Radio New Zealand

For six weeks after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake millions of litres of raw sewage - along with lots of liquefaction - poured into the Avon and Heathcote Rivers. A team of biologists quickly got to work to measure the impact of this catastrophe on life in the Heathcote River and as they tell Alison Ballance, they were surprised by what they recorded over the next few months.