Monday 6 January
Tuesday 7 January
The emergency overflow valve at Oak Street was closed at 5.30am and the discharge into the Taruheru River has stopped.
We advise no contact with the water, fishing or gathering shellfish in the city's rivers, Waikanae and Midway beaches until Saturday.
We were able to close it as the system coped overnight. If it starts to build up due to more rain, we’ve set up an overland pumping system to divert that flow across the Stanley Road footbridge to the sewer main pipe.
Fulton Hogan’s sucker truck can only jet 150m of pipe at a time, then they move to the next manhole. Jetting helps move and break up the blockage.
The special camera is due to arrive at noon today, this will help locate the exact blockage point.
Water samples of the river have been taken this morning. They’ll be sent to the lab and it takes 24hrs for the results.
Monday 6 January 5pm
Emergency overflow valve at Oak Street into the Taruheru River opened at 5pm
Due to a gully trap overflowing and a manhole popping in Stout Street, contractors checked a number of manholes in the Mangapapa area to find cut-up branches blocking a manhole in Dalrymple Road.
The network was coping with the recent heavy rain until the pipe got blocked with garden waste causing wastewater to back up and manholes to start popping.
We have many manholes on private property so we can’t check them all to find where it’s coming from. The section of blocked pipe runs between Stout St and Stanley Rd.
Due to the health risk this diluted discharge poses, we advise no contact with the water, fishing or gathering shellfish in rivers and beaches until at least 5 days after the valve is closed and warning signs are removed.
This is devastating for our waka ama whānau training for nationals and all water users. This thoughtless act has impacted so many.
Contractors are working hard right now to clear the blockage, we’ll update the post as soon as it’s clear and the valve is closed.
Saturday 28 December
The flows have reduced to 400% above normal so the overflow valves were closed at 12pm and the discharge has stopped.
Temporary warning signs will remain in place - we advise no swimming, fishing or gathering shellfish in rivers and beaches until at least 5 days after the valves are closed and warning signs are removed.
Thursday 26 December at 1pm
The city’s wastewater system is flooded with intense periods of rainfall draining from residential properties.
To prevent sewage from overflowing back into homes and onto roads and causing a significant health risk, we must release the excess water.
To do this we opened the emergency sewer valve at Oak Street into the Taruheru River and Gladstone Road Bridge into the Turanganui River at 1pm.
We only open the valve when it’s absolutely necessary and only in the areas with issues.
The discharge is highly diluted with rain water, but still poses a health risk.
We've notified Hauora Tairāwhiti Medical Officer of Health, water user and sports groups.
Temporary warning signs are up - we advise no swimming, fishing or gathering shellfish in rivers and beaches until at least 5 days after the valves are closed and warning signs are removed.
We’ll update the post when the discharge has stopped.
We don't make the call to discharge to rivers lightly, we do this to prevent sewage from overflowing back into people's homes and properties in the city, and onto roads, causing a significant health risk. Unfortunately this however results in health risks in the rivers, beaches and nearby coastal areas, which is why we advise against swimming, fishing or gathering shellfish in rivers and beaches over this time.
For info on why discharges happen