Masterton waste leaking into river

The equivalent of 31 milk tankers fully laden with 890,000 litres of treated sewage is calculated to be leaking from Masterton's creaking oxidation ponds.


A Pond Location report prepared by the consultants Beca Carter describes leakage from the ponds, mostly into the Ruamahanga River, as a "permeable path".

Beca Carter is organising a public meeting on the Masterton District Council's plans to upgrade the Homebush sewage treatment plant.

Upgrade opponent John Wardell said leakage from the ponds worried people living along the river and there was no clear indication where it all ended up.


He said the ponds at Homebush were described as marginal in the 1970s when they were first constructed.