What to do with Seddon’s poo?

Discharge to land through wetland systems was the ru¯ nanga’s preferred discharge system, it said.

‘‘Passing or filtering waste through land, where the carrying capacity of the land is not compromised, can restore the mauri or balance of that water. This outcome cannot be achieved through dilution of waste using water as a medium.’’

The council’s new consent would only release 570 cubic metres of wastewater into the creek each day, instead of the current 750 cubic metres.

The plant had more than 7km of underground pipes, two pump stations and two treatment ponds capable of holding 15,000 cubic metres, and was opened in 1977.

The sewage was treated by ‘‘natural biological processes’’, disinfecting the water of bacteria, viruses, protozoa and parasites before it was discharged into Starborough Creek.

Under the old consent conditions, the council had to monitor wastewater quality and the creek’s ecology, and that data was used in the new application.

Cawthron Institute ecologist Karen Shearer said the creek had poor water quality even upstream of the sewage discharge.

The poor water quality was likely a cumulative effect from stormwater runoff from residential and rural land bordering the creek to the west, she said.

The creek’s ecosystem was mainly just ‘‘pollution-tolerant’’ creatures, she said.

Shearer took several surveys and reviewed seven years of compliance data to find the sewage had a minimal effect on temperature, ph levels, and nutrients were less than minor or within guidelines.

However, the amount of dissolved oxygen was below guidelines 25 per cent of the time, and E Coli and faecal coliforms were present in the creek.

Shearer said if the discharge was removed from the creek, it would result in a ‘‘small but measurable’’ improvement in the ecological health of the creek downstream of the discharge.

Yealands Wine Group’s lawyer David Dew said the council should operate to a higher standard when it came to discharging waste to freshwater.

The council should not be ‘‘rewarded’’ with a new consent, having chosen to ignore the old consent’s conditions that the new discharge system should be built within 10 years, Dew said.

Council hydrologist Dr John Mcconchie said the discharge would be well diluted by the time it reached Yealands’ intake.

The council said it took longer than expected to do reports and seek approval and budgeting.