Milton

Milton is a town located 50 kilometres south of Dunedin. It lies near the coast on the floodplain of the Tokomairiro River. Founded as a milling town in the 1850s, it is now a service town for the surrounding farming community. Air quality monitoring began in Milton in 2008, with winter-only monitoring for PM₁₀. In 2020 the monitoring instrument was upgraded to a continuous optical instrument monitoring PM_2.5.

Long-term trends indicate that air quality is improving in Milton.

Town Summary

Air quality in this town

The town has high housing density with heavy reliance on multi-fuel burners for heating. Despite being located close to the east coast, temperatures are frequently as cold as Central Otago. Consequently, Milton has some of the worst air quality in Otago. PM₁₀ monitoring from 2008-2020 indicates air quality does not meet the National Environmental Standard.

Sources of air pollution

Home heating Industrial Outdoor burning Traffic Indoor sources Natural sources

In this town, where do emissions come from?

The split between home heating, industrial, outdoor burning and traffic sources

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Sources of PM₁₀ emissions
Sources of PM_2.5 emissions
Sources of NOx emissions

Source	Annual percentage	Winter day percentage
Home heating	{{emissions.annualhome}}%	{{emissions.winterhome}}%
Industrial	{{emissions.annualindustry}}%	{{emissions.winterindustry}}%
Outdoor burning	{{emissions.annualoutdoor}}%	{{emissions.winteroutdoor}}%
Traffic	{{emissions.annualmotor}}%	{{emissions.wintermotor}}%

Relative breakdown

Annual

Winter day

The table shows the proportions of the main sources of PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) in this town from home heating, industrial activities, outdoor burning and traffic. (Indoor, natural and shipping sources are not included in this breakdown).

These values come from 2013 data sourced from MfE’s data service. Consistent methodology was used to calculate these estimates of PM and NO_x emissions, which allows comparison between towns throughout New Zealand. Regional council or unitary authority published emissions information might differ if they were prepared in a different year or used another method. Contact your regional council or unitary authority for more information about PM and other emissions in your area.

Seasonal variation

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PM10

PM2.5

Wind speed (km/h)

Air temperature (℃)

What is this graph showing me?

The graph shows the monthly average PM concentrations at one representative site in this town for the year selected. In many towns in New Zealand, PM peaks in the winter when air temperatures and wind speeds are lowest as more people heat their homes during colder weather, and still conditions mean that there is no wind to disperse the air pollutants.

Sites 1

Monitored sites in Milton

Monitored sites in this town can be categorised according to location:

Residential: Air monitoring site is in a suburban area with a relatively high population density, but not close to a busy road or industry.
Traffic: Air monitoring site is very close to a busy road or intersection.
Industry: Air monitoring site is close to industry, including heavy commercial and processing factories.
Coastal: Air monitoring site is close to the coast where there are high levels of sea salt in the air.
NES: A site monitored for compliance with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NES-AQ).

...retrieving sites.

No sites found.

Milton

Sources of air pollution

In this town, where do emissions come from?

Seasonal variation

What is this graph showing me?

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