Wastewater systems to take weeks to recover
Wastewater systems in parts of South Taranaki are ‘‘inundated’’ following two weekends of record rainfall.
Residents are now being asked to ‘‘minimise wastewater use where possible’’ as it will take a couple of weeks of fine weather for the plants to recover, Taranaki District Council group manager of community services and infrastructure Fiona Aitken said.
‘‘Even though it’s not raining now the district is so saturated and the groundwater level is so high it’s entering our networks in some places,’’ Aitken said.
The main issues were at a couple of locations in Hāwera and Manaia, where the networks are full of storm water and are at capacity, and sucker trucks are running around the clock to clear any discharges.
Due to the huge amount of rain in the network, there are very dilute wastewater discharges, however, signs are in place warning people not to come into contact with the water or collect fish/shellfish and plant life, Aitken said.