A water bottling plant in Christchurch on the former home the Kaputone Wool Scour has been rapped over the knuckles for both breaching a resource consent and health and safety failings.

A controversial water bottling operation illegally pumped more than 10 million litres* of water from an aquifer beneath Christchurch against the rules of its resource consent, it has emerged.

Cloud Ocean Water was granted permission in December to extract around 1.5 billion litres a year at a plant on the old Kaputone wool scour in Belfast, which it intends to bottle and sell abroad. It has begun recruitment for 200 staff needed for its $50 million plant.

But it was ordered to cease operations and was slapped with an abatement notice on August 24 by Environment Canterbury (ECan) after it was found to have started taking water through its 33 metre bore without informing authorities - part of its consent conditions.

The abatement notice was lifted on Friday after the firm provided ECan with the necessary verification certificates required for the consent to be activated, along with water metering data.

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Christchurch West Melton water zone manager Steve Firth said Cloud Ocean had now complied with the requirements.

"The issue with the water data logger was a technical fault, however, there were two on-site flow meters which had continued to record the volume taken but were not connecting through to the data meter properly.

"As the two flow meters were working correctly, we know how much water was taken prior to the consent being activated.

"We are confident the other two flow meters were, and continue to be, working correctly, and that the fault is now fixed.

"However, we will continue to monitor Cloud Ocean on a regular basis to ensure compliance."

Data revealed the company took around 10,500 cubic metres of water - more than 10 million litres, amounting to a fraction of what it is allowed to extract under its consent.

It is not clear how long the firm was taking water without permission, but a spokeswoman said it was either "disposed of or retained as part of the testing process".

CLOUD OCEAN WATER Cloud Ocean Water is currently testing the production line at its Belfast bottling plant. Water is yet to be exported for sale.

Cloud Ocean Water has not yet started bottling water for sale and no water from the site has been exported, a spokeswoman said.

The company is currently testing its production line as part of the commissioning of the plant, and a date for water production is yet to be set.

In the meantime it is undertaking a major drive to recruit 200 staff, advertising for a number of jobs through online portal Seek.

The firm is looking to hire production operators, forklift drivers and reach stacker driver, experience truck drivers, a transportation manager and a human resources manager, a role paying a salary of up to $89,999.

A company spokeswoman said: "Cloud Ocean Water has worked hard over the last two weeks to successfully resolve issues raised by ECan. We are pleased that the notice has now been lifted.

"From the beginning Cloud Ocean has worked with and sought advice from local suppliers, contractors and advisers to help us navigate and comply with all regulatory and compliance requirements."

SUPPLIED Last year a worker at the Cloud Ocean Water construction site was photographed apparently straddling a forklift whilst welding.

The firm continues to work with authorities to resolve "teething issues", she added, saying it is making "every effort to be a good and responsible corporate citizen".

Last week the company – which is Chinese-owned but NZ registered, so pays tax locally – was ordered to tighten its health and safety measures after regulator WorkSafe discovered a number of failings during a visit.

Inspectors found failings over machinery safety and protective equipment for staff, issuing the firm with a series of notices forcing it to clean up its act.

* An earlier version of this story said Ocean Cloud Water had taken one million litres. The correct figure is 10 million.

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