Auckland Council shares what goes on behind the scenes with SafeSwim. Video / Safeswim
Auckland beaches improved for swimming last summer, with 17 beaches clean 100% of the time.
Seven beaches, including Judges Bay, remain closed until next winter, due to contamination.
Safeswim now covers 147 locations, providing real-time water quality updates every 15 minutes.
Aucklanders have good reason to pull out their togs and head to a local beach this summer.
Following the storms that regularly closed many beaches during the summer of 2023, nearly all beaches were clean to swim at last summer - 17 beaches were compliant 100% of the time, and few warnings were issued on the Safeswim website.
But as a reminder that there is still a lot to do to prevent poop in the water, six beaches remain permanently closed to swimmers: Coxs Bay, Fosters Bay, Green Bay, Lynfield Cove, Meola Reef and Wood Bay.
“Whether you’re heading out for a morning dip, a surf with friends, or a family day at the beach, Safeswim gives you the information you need to stay safe, including after heavy rainfall, which can affect our waterways,” he said.
Safeswim has become the ultimate beach buddy for Aucklanders using real-time data on rainfall, wind, and other environmental factors to simulate water quality at each beach. The water quality estimates are updated at least every 15 minutes.
This summer, Safeswim has extended its coverage to 147 beaches and swimming spots with 14 new locations.
Before the Safeswim system, the only way to let swimmers know there was a risk to their health was by testing the water and reporting the results several days later.
Council’s Safeswim manager Holly Foreman said it was thrilling to see the continued growth and success of Safeswim, which notched up more than 1 million visits to the website last summer.
The Safeswim website - with its three coloured pins - shows which beaches are safe to swim at, and which are not.
Watercare head of wastewater Jonathan Piggot said it was international best practice to avoid swimming for 48 hours after heavy rain.
“That’s because rainfall after dry weather can carry a ‘first flush’ of dirty water through the stormwater network on to beaches and into urban waterways – including water contaminated with animal faeces, oil, metals and rubber from tyres, microplastics, and rubbish.”
Piggot said Aucklanders were fortunate to have the Safeswim tool to let them know where and when they could swim.
There are three coloured water quality pins on the Safeswim website. Green pins mean the water quality is good and it’s fine to take a dip.
Red pins are based on modelling and indicate beaches that could be impacted by several contaminants, including that first flush of dirty water, Piggot said.
Black pins indicate the presence of wastewater at beaches, due to overflow. Sometimes these are due to the local combined network designed to carry both stormwater and wastewater, such as at Herne Bay beach, Piggot said.
“Sometimes these are due to blockages in the wastewater network or mechanical or electrical issues at pump stations.”
Auckland's Cheltenham Beach near Devonport is a popular swimming spot.
A Herald investigation in 2021 found 1 million cubic metres of wastewater and sewage - equivalent to 400 Olympic swimming pools - pouring into the harbour each year. That flow came from 41 points around the inner city suburbs almost every time it rained, from Blockhouse Bay in the west to Tamaki in the east.
Mayor Phil Goff said at the time, “Auckland is a global city, and we shouldn’t have overflows polluting our harbour… we have to invest in clean and safe beaches”.
Watercare programme delivery chief Shayne Cunis said this month that the council body planned to invest $8 billion in new and upgraded wastewater infrastructure over the next decade, including directing $4.8b specifically into wastewater networks to reduce overflows.
He said the $1.67b central interceptor - a 16.2km super-sized sewer tunnel running from Western Springs to the Māngere wastewater treatment plant - would go a long way to cleaning up Auckland’s beaches and waterways, reducing overflows by about 80% when it is completed in late 2026.
Watercare planned to build an extension to the Central Interceptor to St Marys Bay and Herne Bay to clean up local beaches from about 2028.
Watercare's $1.67 billion Central Interceptor is expected to reduce sewage overflows by about 80% when it is completed in late 2026.
Cunis said Judges Bay had a precautionary black water quality pin in place until Watercare finished a $13.2 million permanent solution to a damaged wastewater pipe beneath the Parnell Rose Gardens.
During the 2023 floods, the wastewater pipe below the bay burst.
Watercare is installing a small prepackaged submersible wastewater pump station, has started work on a new rising main up Judges Bay Rd, and is planning to begin work on a gravity sewer on Cleveland Rd next month. The project is due to be completed next winter.
Cunis said Watercare had completed a new pump station in Panmure and a new pump station and branch sewer upgrade in Glen Innes this year – both of which helped to prevent overflows to the Tāmaki River.
“We also completed a new Mairangi Bay Pump Station, which significantly reduces the likelihood of overflows in Mairangi Bay,” he said.
