Whangarei District Council Takes Proactive Stance on Manhole Covers: Assistance from the Public Wanted
Media Release - (14 October 2009)
Whangarei District Council has moved quickly to ensure that a tragic event such as the one in Waitakere where a toddler was drowned, will be unlikely to occur in Whangarei.
WDC Chief Executive Mark Simpson said that Council was aware of a number of manholes similar to the one involved in the Waitakere case which ‘pop’ during storm events, and would be reviewing the list today with a fresh set of eyes to identify potential problems and prioritise those where action needed to be taken. "We will be looking at both the stormwater and the wastewater network and we want the public to help us by letting us know about manholes that they are aware of in their local area that have ‘popped’ before in heavy rain. Even if we already know about it, we would rather people called us just in case there are some we haven’t identified.
"We encourage people to phone the WDC Call Centre on 0800 WDC INFO ( 0800 932463) to report faulty manhole covers or any other issues to do with the wastewater or stormwater network that they think could be a problem."
Mr Simpson said Council would also review the hydraulic model of its stormwater and wastewater networks as a matter of urgency. "As well as this we are sourcing a different type of manhole cover to install in the problem places – essentially a cover that is hinged and designed to pop up when the water pressure reaches a certain level, but which will come back down in the same place rather than remain displaced. It is the displacement which appears to have been the cause of this tragic accident.
"We have also reviewed our database of calls logged about issues like this, checking for any repeated calls which may not have been satisfactorily resolved."
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