Thurs 26 December
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