More raw sewage spilt into Whangārei Harbour: Regional council considers enforcement action

Ritchie Rd residents at Parua Bay are concerned their beach has again been contaminated with raw sewage. Photo / Facebook

Residents of a picturesque Whangarei Heads bay are incensed by what they say is the district council’s lack of action over recurrent sewerage overflows.

The Northland Regional Council (NRC) is considering enforcement action against the Whangarei District Council (WDC), which says it has “a big project under way to assess and develop plans for increased sewer capacity”.

Parua Bay resident Kevin White, a registered drain layer involved in installing the system at Whangārei Heads during the mid-2000s, said it was “very, very poorly designed” and defective from the start.

And, it was not designed for the massive influx of houses WDC had since “encouraged” in the area.

White recalled the system was the biggest contract ever awarded by WDC - a “really big thing at the time”.

However, it had repeatedly malfunctioned, causing overflows and odours that stink out the neighbourhood, especially near Parua Bay School.

Already this year – on New Year’s Day – another sign warning swimmers and shellfish gatherers of a recent sewage spill had been erected by WDC at the beach end of Ritchie Rd, where he lives, White said.

“It shouldn’t be allowed to be happening; if something’s not working you’ve got to fix it, you don’t just bang a sign in and walk away,” White said.

He was disappointed NRC, which is responsible for water quality in the harbour, hadn’t intervened.

Parua Bay map

However, NRC compliance monitoring manager Tess Dacre told the Northern Advocate that the regional council was concerned about frequent overflows from Parua Bay pump stations and was considering its options, including enforcement action against WDC.

Dacre said WDC was trying to manage the flows and was using vacuum trucks as a stop gap to empty storage tanks when flows exceeded the system’s capacity.

A WDC spokeswoman said it was trying to address the problem. In fact, council had “a big project under way to assess and develop plans for increased sewer capacity”, she said.

The council was still investigating the cause of the latest spill but noted an alarm had failed in an overfull holding tank.

The reticulated system works by shifting wastewater between storage tanks via pump stations between Whangarei Heads and the Kioreroa Wastewater Treatment Plant in Whangārei.

“If one of the holding tanks gets too full an alarm should go off, alerting us so we can stop more water coming into the tank while it is pumped out and the system is restarted,” the spokeswoman said.

Contractors were sent to deal with the problem at 9.30am on January 1 and fixed it by 11am, the spokeswoman said.

The existing reticulated system, she said, was designed, funded and installed in stages in the 2000s and 2010s because 70 percent of the 534 (private) septic tank systems on the Heads were failing and polluting Whangārei Harbour.

Council recognised there had been considerable growth in the area and had undertaken studies into potential expansion of the reticulated system.

While there's no obvious signs of pollution, the beach at the bottom of Ritchie Rd has been closed yet again for swimming and shellfish gathering after another overflow from an inadequate sewerage system that locals want upgraded.

White believed the overflows were because a pipe line – about 90mm – was too narrow.

“The Bog Doctor truck and trailer is coming out here just about non-stop sucking out the pumping stations that aren’t working, which must be at a huge yearly cost [to the ratepayers],” he said.

It was disappointing that council had never given any explanation for the problem, apologised, or promised to rectify it and had prioritised trivial projects like bike tracks for Whangārei, White said.

“And, the regional council not getting involved also worries me - they’re supposed to look after water quality but they’re not doing anything about it.

“The whole thing is absolutely pathetic,” White said.

In his view, the ideal remedy would be for WDC to create a treatment station on Whangārei Heads or replace the pumping pipes with wider ones.

There was no need for raw sewerage to spill into the sea, White said.

Sewerage technology had advanced in 40 years. There were numerous reserves at the Heads where sewerage could be filtered through the soil and used for watering.

Parua Bay Oyster Farm co-owner Pauline Gardner agreed with White that the Ritchie Rd overflows were a problem but accepted WDC’s advice it was working on a solution.

Gardner said that fortunately, in the 18 months since she and husband Buster bought the business, the spills had not led to extended closures.

She thanked good rotation of harbour water through the bay, saying the farm had only needed to close for the mandatory testing required after spills, which took 48 hours.

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference