Water Quality Improvement in the Waiwiri Catchment
LEI has been working with Horowhenua District Council and research scientists from ESR and Canterbury University on an exciting project to improve water quality in the Waiwiri catchment.
The exotic pine plantation surrounding the “Pot” in Horowhenua’s Waiwiri catchment is spray irrigated with treated effluent from Levin’s wastewater treatment plant.
This project replaced 10ha of pine forest with manuka/kanuka and other native species to examine their ability to reduce contaminants entering the Waiwiri Stream.
Monitoring of groundwater was undertaken to quantify the benefits of the new system.
Research outputs from the Trial
Read about research by ESR using manuka to improve water quality