Editorial: A wee bit of wee never hurt anyone, we hope

A big swell was a bonus for some hardened surfers at Westshore, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland.

What a week - two months' worth of rain in three days.

The heaviest rain was in the ranges - 300mm of rain in three days.

In Napier, it highlighted the work that needs to be done on the city's creaking stormwater system, which had to relieve itself at 1am on Thursday for an unspecified amount of time into the Ahuriri Estuary via a stormwater drain.

Hastings District Council had its sewage problems as well.

But being a mainly inland district, there isn't the emotive reaction to sewage that ends up in the water, which can stir people up something fierce.

A spokesperson for HDC said about eight properties were unable to flush their toilets on Thursday due to wastewater backup. Not ideal, and again, believed to be connected to storm water going into the wastewater system.

This is what happens in Napier.

The council is making all the right noises - there is $20.6 million in the pipeline to sort the problem out.

And it's not the worst example of this sort of thing that exists across our mighty clean and green country.

But still, sewage - even if it is diluted - spilling out of manholes into residential streets is a third world problem that you shouldn't have to encounter.

The water around Ahuriri will continue to be checked for pollution levels - swimming is not recommended.

Not a lot of that happening in winter, to be fair,

Although a few surfers took advantage of the swell peeling into Westshore, Napier this week.

Strange breed, surfers.

I know many. They are good company when they are on land.

My wife and I once travelled more than 100km to catch up with some old friends who are mad keen surfers.

They fell asleep at 8pm, because they had been up since dawn, and disappeared the next morning before we had got up.

The waves come first.

A wee bit of sewage in the water didn't seem to bother the hard core at Westshore.

In fact, the best way to keep warm in the water in winter is to wee in your wetsuit.

Although, to be fair, it's your own wee - at least you know where its come from.