DrainWise

The DrainWise programme is about working together with property owners to help fix problems with wastewater and stormwater drains.

Too much stormwater is still getting into our wastewater network during heavy rain. This causes wastewater (sewage) overflows onto private property, into our rivers and the sea, causing potential health risks.

The main cause is illegal spouting connections, broken gully traps on private property and property flooding topping gully traps.

Our DrainWise team will work with homeowners to check gully traps and downpipes on your home to make sure they're in good condition and they drain to the correct outlet. We may do minor repairs to gully traps at no cost to you.

We have on-going renewal programme to address old public network wastewater pipes to reduce groundwater in our Three Year Plan 2024-2027.

What causes emergency discharges in heavy rain?

During intense or heavy rainfall, some parts of the city's wastewater network are inundated with rainwater (stormwater) and the network can’t cope with the volume of water.

To prevent wastewater from overflowing onto private properties and out of manholes onto roads – which can cause significant health risks – we must release the excess water. The only way to do this is to open valves and discharge the wastewater and stormwater into the river. The discharge is highly diluted with rainwater, but there’s still a risk to health.

We only open the valves when it’s absolutely necessary and only in the areas with issues.

For more information

We need to work together

Gisborne city's wastewater network and stormwater network are separate systems.

Homeowners are responsible for all the pipes and gully traps within their property boundary.

Did you know it only takes 4 properties with rain water flowing into the gully trap to overload the network.

Our inspections of underground private pipes have shown that about half are in a poor condition and leaking. When these pipes leak, they let rainfall into the sewage system which then struggles to cope, leading to overflows during heavy rains.

Making sure the privately-owned underground sewage system isn’t leaking will help reduce overflows.

Council's managed wastewater network is designed to accepted New Zealand standards and under normal conditions would be able to cope with higher wastewater volumes in heavy rainfall events.

The problem in Gisborne is that the amount of rainwater getting into the wastewater network, mostly from private properties, is extraordinarily high.

Help protect our environment

Tell us if you have flooding problems on your property.

DrainWise videos and resources

Get to know your gully trap

Mike Hall, a local Gizzy plumber “getting to know your gully trap…you’ll prevent a whole lot of pollution on our properties and our rivers”.

Only Flush the 3 Ps - pee, poo and (toilet) paper

Nick reminds us about what we should and should not flush down the toilet. Blocked wastewater pipes can cause sewage back-ups in your home or overflow into our city's rivers.

Sinks aren't rubbish bins

Check out these fatbergs!  Dianne has a few tips on what should go in the bin, not down the sink and block our sewage system. How simple adjustments to what we do in the kitchen can make a world of difference to our pipes and save our rivers and the ocean.

Healthy water, healthy community

When water isn't draining right - it's not healthy for your family, your home or our rivers and beaches.
Here's information on what you can do. If you have flooding issues on your property.
Fill in our online property flooding form

Stormwater and wastewater don't mix

It's important that we all understand the different water networks so we can all help prevent sewage discharges into our rivers. We have separate networks for stormwater (rain) and for wastewater (sewage).

Download our resources