Tūranga water well to undergo repair

Work gets under way next week to repair one of two underground water wells that feed into Tūranga’s heating system.

The innovative system uses wells to bring up water from an underground aquifer, circulate it in a heat exchanger, and then return the water down to a different layer of the aquifer.

One of the wells has been shut off since 2021 when the system was discovered to be causing an excess water issue.

Christchurch City Council General Manager Citizens and Community Mary Richardson says the initial remediation work is expected to run for about three weeks and would not have any impact on the movements of library users or staff, or the library’s opening hours.

“Phase one involves injecting a grout underground to strengthen and seal the ground around one of the wells. Then the team will work to drill out the end of the well to determine whether it can be extended down to a deeper aquifer at a later date.”

Ms Richardson says the work to extend the well depends on the success of the first phase of the project and is scheduled to happen later this year.

“The goal is to have two fully operational wells again, which ensures the building always has a backup heating and cooling system.

“It will also mean we can reinstate the loading bay to the east of Tūranga to allow for normal truck deliveries and library operations.”