No lockdown, still code brown in bay
Nationwide no-swimming rules have lifted, but Porirua residents still can’t hit the waves at Titahi Bay as its sewage woes continue.
High faecal levels in the bay mean no-swimming signs remain up, even as beach restrictions go down.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said the warnings were put in place in March, before the start of level 4, and had not been lifted.
At the time, Wellington Water warned that swimming or entering water with wastewater contamination could lead to fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, or infections of the eyes, ears, nose and throat.
Baker said high test readings at the bay were not caused by the nearby Porirua Waste Water Treatment Plant – and appeared to be coming from residential pipes.
Wellington Water had tracked the potential source down to pipes in or around a group of properties ‘‘where they’re trying to find the leak’’.
She said it was not clear whether the leak was coming from private pipes or council pipes connecting to those properties.
‘‘There’s faecal [matter] getting into the water...it could be old pipes that are crossed.’’
Wellington Water, which manages council pipes across the region, had sent letters to residents who were potentially the source of the discharge, telling them their pipes would be checked.
‘‘We’re not blaming anyone in particular, we just need to fix it,’’ Baker said.
She said if the sewage was coming from privately owned pipes then the council could fix the pipes then charge the owner.
‘‘Bottom line, if the resident can’t afford to do it, obviously the council will fix it, and we will work something out with the cost. We can’t have sewage going into the harbour.’’
The Porirua Waste Water Treatment Plant is at the southern end of the bay, and takes waste water from Porirua and northern Wellington suburbs.
Last year Wellington Water was fined $67,500 for a ‘‘cascade of errors’’ at the plant that led to an illegal discharge.
Multiple warning signs were ignored before the incident, which saw about 5000 cubic metres of waste water and solids pour into the sea near the bay in October 2018.