Beam me up Scotty!

Council is donating a 1970s control panel from its Water Treatment Plant in Kapiti which would not look out of place on the US Starship Enterprise from the original Star Trek television series.

Council is donating a 1970s control panel from its Water Treatment Plant in Kāpiti which would not look out of place on the US Starship Enterprise from the original Star Trek television series.

“It could make an excellent mock control panel for someone’s starship,” says Martyn Cole, Council’s Water Asset Manager. “As it weighs a couple of tons, the panel will need to be lifted off the site by crane.”

Sci-fi fan clubs and other interested parties are being asked to get in touch with the Council if they would like to man the controls of this panel for their own project.  A variety of uses have been suggested including using parts for college robot clubs.

“We will need to screen applicants who want the panel to make sure they’re not intergalactic enemies and flying saucers must be registered and warranted,” says Water & Wastewater Treatment Plants Manager Dave Bassett. 

“It’ll be sad to part with a piece of the Treatment Plant’s history, but as a Council into recycling it’ll be good to find the panel a new life in another galaxy.”

The Waikanae Water Treatment Plant has been operating since 1977 and is undergoing a $4.7 million upgrade to ensure it can cope with increased future demands for quality drinking water in Kāpiti, one of the fastest growing districts in the country. 

The major areas for upgrade or replacement at the plant include new raw water and high lift pumps, chemical dosing equipment and the electrical and control facilities. Improvements will also be made to the building itself to ensure 100% compliance with latest earthquake standards. 

In parallel, work is being carried out to construct the infrastructure needed for the River Recharge Scheme which will enable Waikanae River to be topped up with groundwater below the treatment plant in dry times. This will allow more water to be taken from the river and processed at the plant when needed, also ensuring bore water does not enter our water supply.

Work is likely to be completed by mid-2015.