A tap providing fluoride-free water to the city will be turned on by the end of August.

In April, city councillors voted unanimously to provide fluoride-free water at the Taitua Arboretum and the Claudelands Events Centre.

Council’s city development manager Andrew Parsons said the Claudelands project was progressing well and expected the supply to be switched on during the week starting August 29.

The public tap at the arboretum is available now.

The Claudelands tap fixture stands 1.5 metres tall and is situated by the car park near the children’s playground.

Associated water equipment will be stored inside The Grandstand at Claudelands.

The tap will draw its water from the city’s reticulated supply and will use de-ionising technology to remove the fluoride.

Parsons said the project had kept within its $70,000 budget.

“Once all the installation work is completed we just need to commission some testing in terms of public health and water compliance matters,” Parsons said.

“We hoped to have done it slightly earlier but it just took a little bit longer because some of the suppliers had other workload requirements so we just had to work in with that.”

The arboretum tap initially had a few technical teething issues but was now working well.

The arboretum tap uses an existing bore.

Parsons said the council hadn’t received any negative feedback about the facility.

Council staff had been keeping anti-fluoride campaigners updated on the progress of the Claudelands tap.

It was unclear how many users the tap will draw.

“There’s been a lot of speculation around how popular something like this will be but it’s difficult to know with any real certainty. But once it’s up and running we will certainly be wanting to monitor it,” Parsons said.

The issue of fluoridation hit national headlines in April this year after Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said district health boards, rather than councils, should decide whether to fluoridate an area’s water supply.

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