Te Hiku o Te Ika, the northernmost marae in the country, is a meeting place for the Te Hāpua community and the iwi of Ngāti Kurī. The marae’s primary water source has been rainwater, assisted by tankered-water deliveries in times of low rainfall and for any events held at the marae. With a round trip for each load of 200km to Kaitaia, not only was this costly but also unsustainable.
After registration with the Rural Drinking Water Programme the marae took the initiative and drilled a bore to solve their water shortage issues, however testing showed that there were very high levels of iron and silica, producing poor tasting and unsafe drinking water.
These could not be removed by a standard water treatment plant, so NIFF’s contractors Filtec designed a bespoke treatment plant for the marae and its community. As the plant is close to the coast, the design of the treatment plant also enables it to be easily shifted up to a hill site in the event of coastal erosion or inundation.
The water treatment plant was installed in April 2024, and the marae and surrounding community are pleased to now have a safe, reliable source of drinking water that also tastes much better.
“It means so much to us, we have been in water poverty for many years, and now we are proud to awhi our hāpori (community) and be in a state of resilience. Without the treatment plant to clean the water that comes out of the bore when we run out (of rainwater) we wouldn’t have drinkable water” said Huia Cooper.
This marae is just one example of the importance of the treatment plants NIFF has installed, making a difference not only in the Far North, but around Aotearoa.
