Assembly members asked:

• “What happens to our wastewater?” (00:00)
• “What about microplastics, pharmaceutical byproducts and other chemicals?” (01:14)
• “Is any of the wastewater that gets discharged actually of drinking quality?” (01:48)
• “Does Auckland depend more on the Waikato river than on the dams that we have?” (03:56)
• “Can we rely on the Waikato region to keep supplying water from the river?” (04:11)
• “Has the water quality of the Waikato river been affected?” (05:22)
• “How is the Waikato supply affected by Auckland’s increasing use of water from the Waikato river?”
  (06:16)
• “What happens to Auckland’s allotted water quantity if a drought affects the Waikato river?” (07:29)
• “What is Watercare doing to prevent water leakage from the system?” (09:37)
• “Do the future projections anticipate a drop in water usage per capita?” (11:15)
• “Does the cost of delivering water to Auckland differ depending on the source?” (11:58)
• “Is treating wastewater to meet drinking water standards and reusing it a viable option?” (12:51)

• “Why can’t we just build another dam?” (00:00)
• “Won’t we fix this with all of us having rainwater tanks?” (01:12)
• “The booklet mentions Te Mana o te Wai. What does this actually mean?” (03:28)
• “What’s wrong with taking more water from the Waikato?” (05:19)
• “What does this have to do with Three Waters reform?” (09:34)
• “What if we treated water as a taonga?” (11:14)
• “How can you be sure that any of these options are safe?” (14:40)
• “We all use way too much water. Can’t we just use less?” (16:47)
• “Why don’t we just catch stormwater and use that?” (19:25)
• “NZ has other places we could get water from. Why aren’t we looking on a national scale?” (21:11)
• “If we keep using water from the Waikato, will they have enough for their needs?” (22:27)
• “Could we use water treated to a lower standard for activities that don’t need a high level of water purity?” (24:45)
• “What environmental impact do dams have?” (27:20)
• “If we all saved a lot of water, how would that affect Watercare’s revenue?” (28:16)

A: We don’t know what will happen in 100 years but when we plan for a thirty year horizon, we still expect our assets to last well beyond that (like our dams)

A: The environmental impacts are the return of the brine into the environment (which can have an impact on marine life) This is still being studied. 

A: can have an impact on marine life) This is still being studied.
In the Arabian gulf, ecologists have noticed changes in species composition and shifting of spawning seasons near a desalination plant. The cumulative long-term effect on receiving water bodies and their biodiversity is unclear.

A: Whichever option(s) we go with, we will need to meet increasingly strict environmental standards (RMA).

A: The stuff that is more than 3mm thick is captured in filters and trucked to landfill.

A: The residual sludge is dried and currently used as beneficially as possible, with increasing benefits as technology allows.

A: Levels of some contaminants (e.g. copper, lead and zinc) were elevated in the Māngere Inlet, possibly as a result of wastewater discharge. The disturbance to ecosystems has lessened with improvements to wastewater treatment facility, according to a recent environmental monitoring report (https://www.knowledgeauckland.org.nz/media/2120/synthesis-state-of-the-environment-monitoring-manukau-harbour-final_web.pdf). Recycling water would further reduce impacts on the harbour as less treated water would be released. 

A: For wastewater recycling, the amount of solid waste is the same as it is now, it’s just the waste from our wastewater treatment. With recycling options, we would be using the water instead of putting it into the harbour after treatment.

A: With desalination, the waste is brine that must be discharged in the harbour. The yield of drinkable water from the amount treated is lower than with recycling.

A: There is an opportunity to capture nutrients for re-use with recycled wastewater. It is likely that there will always be some waste product that will need to be put into the environment just as we do today with wastewater by-products.

A: The amount of solid waste is the same – the water portion that is being purified and re-used