Watercare Services reckons that encasing the ugly 88-year-old Hobson Bay sewer in a new concrete shell is the "appropriate way forward." If it is, I don't think I want to be going to the destination they have in mind.
It is ironic that at a time when Watercare is spending zillions of dollars removing all trace of the old sewage treatment ponds in the Manukau Harbour, it is proposing to enlarge this ancient blot on the inner-city landscape.
There is no doubt that something has to be done about the old sewer. Servicing an area stretching from Avondale to Meadowbank, it was built to carry waste to the old holding tanks at Orakei (now Kelly Tarlton's aquarium) before the waste was flushed out to sea on the tide.
Today it carries 25 per cent of the wastewater pumped across the isthmus into the Mangere treatment plant. It is on its last legs.
Last year, some emergency upgrading took place, including patching the interior surface, strengthening the piles and strapping the exterior with dozens of wire bands.
This, the experts say, has added five to 10 years to the pipe's use-by date. After that, the risk of a blow-out becomes unacceptably high.
Watercare's public consultation document canvasses various replacement options but makes clear which option it prefers. Encasing the existing sewer with a new concrete shell is the "simplest and most effective" solution.
The sewer is "easy to maintain, simple to operate, and because it relies on gravity, operational and maintenance costs are kept to a minimum."
On the environmental impact this enlargement of the old eyesore will have, Watercare's reply is ingenious. "Like Tamaki Drive, the rail causeway and other infrastructure in Hobson Bay, the Hobson Bay sewer is now part of the local environment."
Which is a bit like saying that because we have had overhead powerlines for a century, there is no environmental reason for putting them underground.
The document argues there will even be an environmental benefit. "The upgrading work provides an opportunity to restore a community amenity - a walkway across the sewer." I wonder what else passes for fun in the eastern suburbs?
Watercare does concede that burying the sewer is an option, but half drowns it with cold water. Pumping would be required, introducing "the risk of odour and noise and the potential for overflow." Traffic would also be obstructed during construction and the marine environment disturbed.
They key argument against an underground pipe is that the cost would nearly double, from between $23 million and $26.5 million for the encasement proposal to between $44 and $47 million.
Despite the booklet's bias, Watercare argues that it has "a completely open mind" on which option it prefers. It is up to the public and shareholding local authorities to make their views known, says Watercare spokesman Owen Cook. He says Watercare pushed the overground option because the company has "a responsibility to point out the most cost-effective option."
He concedes it was wrong not to include, alongside the pictures of various improved above-ground sewers, a picture of Hobson Bay without a sewer pipe. I didn't ask him, but presumably that goes for the tick-a-box questionnaire which offers a choice only between three above-ground variations too.
The two practical underground options involve crossing Hobson Bay, either alongside the existing sewer, or north, via the Outboard Boating Club, where a pumping station would be installed.
Burying the pipes beneath Tamaki Drive or Shore Rd would disrupt traffic, and they would have to travel several kilometres further to hook up with the existing Parnell and Orakei connecting points.
Watercare is to be commended for its frugal attitude towards spending ratepayers' money, but as we enter the 21st century it is surely no longer acceptable to repeat the environmental mistakes of 1912.
If we need to borrow some money to bury this sewer then so be it. Why shouldn't the next generation pay for this improvement? They are the ones who will benefit from the decision.
And they certainly won't thank us if we take the cheaper option.
Watercare has now extended the consultation period until the end of October. You can have your say at Watercare, or by ringing (09) 379-4440 for a brochure.
Read more from our Herald columnists
<i>Rudman's City</i>: A blot is a blot, even when it's got a new shell
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