Hamish Clark: Bromley wastewater plant smell is getting worse

Christchurch's stink is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Photo / George Heard

OPINION:

The power of the stench wafting over Christchurch is getting worse. Way worse.

This morning it hung heavily in the air like a blanket soaked in sewage. I felt drenched in it, and it gave me a headache.

You have to live here to believe it.

First, it was the smell. Now it's the taste - and it is horrid.

It is so bad I am considering wearing a mask full time.

Every day I can taste it - it is acrid, metallic and revolting - and now it has wrapped itself inside my mouth and attached to the sides of my tongue.

The taste comes up my nose and sticks to the back of my throat.

My senses are on high alert - like headlights in the dark - and are the best I reckon they have ever been.

The smell has started to seep inside homes and offices across the city.

It is pumped in through the air conditioning at the NZME offices in Christchurch, more than 8km from ground zero and literally on the other side of town.

It was so bad one day a staff member turned the air conditioning off to halt its march into The Hits radio studio here.

It is also seeping in through car vents. Driving the children to school, my 10-year-old daughter questioned, "What's that smell?"

It's from the poo ponds, I replied.

It stinks, she cried out.

I shuffled around with the air conditioning and saw the vents were open for fresh air.

I quickly switched it to recirculating to quell the smell.

I can taste it at my son's school rugby game at South Hagley Park, at the tennis courts out near the airport, and down the central city mall when the wind blows from the East.

What's worse, is no matter what I eat or drink, I can't get rid of it. It is foul.

Ironically, the waste treatment plant is on the east side of Christchurch and the prevailing wind is northeasterly - off the sea and pushing the smell over the city and beyond.

The only way to get my tastebuds back is to get out of the putrid cloud or hope the wind blows a different way.

The council, to their credit, has apologised - albeit a bit late - and are considering financial compensation for residents living nearby to the damaged wastewater treatment plant.

And the clean-up is about to begin - but not for another couple of weeks.

For me, I just want my tastebuds back. I am sick of eating a poo sandwich but know it will get worse before it gets better.