We have just been made aware of a new issue with commercial buildings that is starting to raise its head and has the potential for bigger claims than that for leaky homes. The issue is repportedly with PPR Polypropylene Random Copolyme water pipes which are used for reticulated water. These european products tested to european standards cannot stand up to the amounts of chlorine Wellington City currently has in its drinking water.The concentration of the chlorine in our water supply reams out the pipes and causes them to fail. The manufacturer only guarantees the pipes if they have been used with the amounts of chlorine typicaly found in Europe.
It begs the question why do we need to have such large doses in our water supply, and if its doing this to the plastic pipes in our buildings whats it doing to our personal pipe work...... is this the reason why we have such a high bowel caner rate in this country ??
We have only just been made aware of this issue and are undertaking research into what the implications are. Initial reports are that some new and retro fitted commercial building could have very expensive repair bills in front of them.
It begs the question why do we need to have such large doses in our water supply, and if its doing this to the plastic pipes in our buildings whats it doing to our personal pipe work...... is this the reason why we have such a high bowel caner rate in this country ??
We have only just been made aware of this issue and are undertaking research into what the implications are. Initial reports are that some new and retro fitted commercial building could have very expensive repair bills in front of them.
When we approached Wellington Regional Council about water its supply and dosage they gave us the following reply.
"Water in Wellington City can come from four different water treatment plants:
- Te Marua
- Wainuiomata
- Waterloo
- Gear Island (mainly used as a standby plant)
We use chlorine gas at our Wainuiomata and Gear Island water treatment plants (water from our Waterloo Water Treatment Plant is dosed with chlorine at Gear Island on its way to Wellington). Our Te Marua Water Treatment Plant uses either sodium hypochlorite (which we generate on-site) or chlorine gas. Te Marua uses sodium hypochlorite the majority of the time (the chlorine gas is used as a standby system).
In regards to how much is added, we typically add 0.6 to 0.8 mg/L of chlorine at our treatment plants to achieve the necessary chlorine residual in the distribution system. More information on chlorine can be found on GWRC's website http://www.gw.govt.nz/chlorine-2/. "
The World Health Organisation has set a health based guideline maximum value of 5 mg/l for chlorine as a residual disinfectant in drinking water. The levels in tap water in England and Wales are well below this guideline and most water companies aim to keep the level below 1 mg/l.
"Water in Wellington City can come from four different water treatment plants:
- Te Marua
- Wainuiomata
- Waterloo
- Gear Island (mainly used as a standby plant)
We use chlorine gas at our Wainuiomata and Gear Island water treatment plants (water from our Waterloo Water Treatment Plant is dosed with chlorine at Gear Island on its way to Wellington). Our Te Marua Water Treatment Plant uses either sodium hypochlorite (which we generate on-site) or chlorine gas. Te Marua uses sodium hypochlorite the majority of the time (the chlorine gas is used as a standby system).
In regards to how much is added, we typically add 0.6 to 0.8 mg/L of chlorine at our treatment plants to achieve the necessary chlorine residual in the distribution system. More information on chlorine can be found on GWRC's website http://www.gw.govt.nz/chlorine-2/. "
The World Health Organisation has set a health based guideline maximum value of 5 mg/l for chlorine as a residual disinfectant in drinking water. The levels in tap water in England and Wales are well below this guideline and most water companies aim to keep the level below 1 mg/l.