Steam from boiling water is being trialled to kill weeds on pavements in a bid to further reduce the use of the weed killer glyphosate, in Christchurch.
The Christchurch City Council has started trialling using the steam in the eastern suburbs.
While the method had been killing the weeds, the city council was still in the early stages of analysing the benefits.
City council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas said it was part of an ongoing commitment to reduce the use of glyphosate, commonly known as Roundup.
In 2016, the city council decided to stop using glyphosate in its parks and reserves after the International Agency for Research on Cancer last year classified it as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
The city council then started using an organic weed killer for its parks and reserves.
Mr Thomas said contractors continued to use the organic weed killer in parks and reserves, but had been trialling the steam method on pavements for a couple of months.
He said it was yet to be decided whether it would be rolled out city-wide.
“Staff will be considering this possibility in areas where this method is practical.”
The method, which is used around the world and has been trialled by North Shore City Council, requires a boiler unit to keep the water at 120 deg C.
“Generally several seconds is required for small weeds, but this varies according to the size and species of the weed,” Mr Thomas said.
Credit: www.newstalkzb.co.nz
