Tairua and Whitianga's new water treatment plants have been upgraded, marking an important milestone in their drinking water standards project - Tautiaki Wai Maori.

'This is year two of a three-year project to upgrade ten water treatment facilities across our district as we keep improving the quality of our drinking water supplies,” says a Thames Coromandel District Council spokesperson.

'The plants have been fitted with the latest technology and methodologies for treating our water including Evoca-supplied membrane units, new filtration, dosing and monitoring equipment.”

The installation of the new plant in Pauanui is complete with electrics to be finished next week and council hope it to be operational by November 2020.

The interior fitting of the plant which houses the filtration equipment.

Meanwhile, civil works have started on-site for the fourth new plant in Coromandel Town and is expected to be finished in May 2021.

Construction at the Beverley Hills in Whangamata will start in October and is expected to be finished in June 2021.

Planning is underway for the remaining upgrades in Wentworth Valley (Whangamata), Moana Point (Whangamata), Onemana, Matarangi and Hahei in that order.

Cakes by the Ocean supplied a cake which was part of the morning tea had by council staff, contractors and locals to celebrate the completion of the project.

The new plant in Pauanui