The Blue Spring. Te Waihou Walkway. North Island. New Zealand.
S 38° 02.168 E 175° 50.144
60H E 397828 N 5789536
On the upper reaches of the Waihou River, the beautiful Blue Spring is internationally acclaimed. Its clear, blue-green water flows from the spring at 42 cubic metres (9240 gallons) per minute.
Waymark Code: WM48HC
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 07/21/2008
Views: 83
The Waihou Stream is totally spring fed. Water from the Mamaku Plateau takes anywhere between 50-100 years to reach the Blue Spring. Water flows from the Blue Spring at a rate of 42 cubic metres per minute (9240 gallons per minute). The water temperature of the Blue Spring is a constant 11 degrees celsius, come winter or summer.
The reason for the blue colour (and high visual clarity) of the Waihou River and its spring source is the high optical purity of the water. Pure water is intrinsically blue in hue because it absorbs red light leaving only blue and (some) green light to be transmitted to the observer's eye. Pure natural waters are blue to blue-green in colour because they lack light absorbing constituents. They also tend to be very clear because they lack light absorbing particles. Both particles and light-absorbing matter are efficiently removed during the long residence time of spring water while in aquifers.
The Blue Spring is open to the public. To get there you can take the Te Waihou walkway. Translated Te Waihou means the new water. This track is a distance of 4.7km and has an average walk time of one and a half hours one-way or three hours for the return trip. Te Waihou Walkway is situated off Whites Road with upstream access from Leslie Road, near the town of Putaruru.
Public or Private Land?: Public
Public Land Fees?: Public Walkway with No Fees.
Private Land access?: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the springs no GPS necessary along with your observations of the spring. What wildlife you saw if any and the condition of the springs. Water level was high, low. The area was clean, trashy ect. Any other knowledge or experiences you have had with this paticular spring that would help document it's history.