Wellington Water announced on Monday it would run an expriment to determine whether the odour neutralisers made the smell better, worse, or the same. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Lower Hutt residents are about to find out whether deodorising cannons installed to mask a pungent stench from a Lower Hutt wastewater treatment plant actually work.
The odour neutralisers have been in place at the Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant since October in an attempt to mask the stench caused by failing equipment which may take up to four years to fix.
Seaview residents and business owners have been sceptical about the cannons' efficacy, with some complaining the neutralising chemicals only make the smell worse.
Wellington Water announced on Monday it would run an experiment to determine whether the odour neutralisers made the smell better, worse, or the same.
It said it made the decision following community feedback on the cannons.
From Wednesday 4 December, the neutralisers would be shut down for two weeks, with residents and business owners invited to provide daily feedback on the stink.
The trial shutdown is scheduled to run until Wednesday 18 December, after which the neutralisers would be turned on.
Wellington Water then plans to capture "data for the next two weeks, to establish a 'baseline'."
"We want to understand whether the smell is better, worse or the same as it has been before the shutdown so we can determine the best next steps."
Wellington Water general manager Jeremy McKibbin told Midday Report the use of neutralisers was standard practice globally, and in New Zealand deodorising cannons could be found at wastewater treament plants and landfills.
But he admitted their neutralising abilities had limits.
"There's only so much you can do with neutralisers, one group of the community are questioning whether the neutralisers are helping, so that's why we're undertaking the trial."
He said staff would be going around the neighbourhood testing for odour, by sniffing, and encouraged residents and business owners to fill out the survey.
McKibben said if the shutdown caused a significant change in odour, for the worse, the odourisers would be turned back on.
"If we do notice a real spike in complaints and a negative impact on people, that's what we'll be doing."
He said a perfuming component to override the smell from the treatment plant was used initially, but quickly discarded in favour of the "straight neutraliser" after "strong feedback from people".
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