Stage one of the new Waikato 50 Water Treatment Plant at Tuakau is complete, producing up to an extra 50 million litres of water per day from the Waikato River and making Auckland’s water supply more resilient.

Construction of the plant was brought forward by about five years as part of our drought response.

Designed and built in under a year, it uses modular construction methods, with pre-manufactured elements and plant equipment. The completion of the plant takes our peak production from the Waikato River to 225 million litres a day. A new pump station in Papakura has also been built to enable the pipeline to deliver that amount to Auckland, via the Redoubt Rd storage reservoirs.

The project is the latest addition to the original Waikato Water Treatment Plant, which was designed to be expanded in stages to cater for Auckland’s growth.

We investigated more than 150 potential water sources that could be developed during the next 35 years to cater for Auckland’s projected growth in demand and the Waikato River was identified as the best large-scale option.

Its water catchment area, which is more than 14,000 square kilometres, makes it more resilient to drought than our water supply dams, which have a combined catchment area of 158 square kilometres.