Two water treatment systems that might improve the quality of Alexandra's water will be trialled in February 2011.
The Vincent Community Board, at a meeting in Alexandra yesterday, voted to undertake trials of the MagCat and Calclear systems, at two separate locations, at a cost of $10,000.
Central Otago District Council development engineer Peter Morton said one system would be trialled in Molyneux Estate, which has about 52 houses, while the other would be trialled in the O'Neill Cres area, with about 60 houses.
These areas were chosen because they were serviced by one water main, so all water in the area could be treated, and they were of a sufficient size to provide a meaningful, representative trial, Mr Morton said.
One of the systems has proved to be successful in Australia, even if there was no scientific proof of improved water quality.
Australian authorities who had trialled the Calclear system in a small, inland town with hard water problems, caused by calcium carbonate, similar to those in Alexandra, found little or no scientific improvement in the water quality, Mr Morton said.
However, public perception was different.
"The trial was unusually successful. It was so successful that the township voted that it be continued permanently.
"The engineers weren't sure why, but something happened to make the water more household friendly."
Although he could not promise the board the same outcome, Mr Morton said at the worst, more would be discovered about Alexandra water, which could be taken into account when short-term and long-term options for improving Alexandra's water quality were formulated.
MagCat is described by its manufacturer, UK-based company Fluid Dynamics, as a system that used magnets to treat calcium carbonate particles formed when hard water is heated, so they remain in suspension "instead of precipitating as scale on pipework and heat transfer surfaces".
"Calclear technology works by changing the mineral crystals in water into tiny particles, thereby offering a treatment that is both prevention and cure for most of the scaling and corrosion problems caused by water," its Sydney-based manufacturer, Aquilla Developments, said.
