Wellington Water apologises for 'unpleasant smells' caused by wastewater discharge into ocean near Days Bay Beach

The wastewater was discharged more than 400 metres from Days Bay Beach. Photo / Wellington Water

Wellington Water is waiting on the results of water testing at a Lower Hutt beach after it was forced to discharge wastewater into the ocean.

On Tuesday last week, Wellington Water discovered a leak in one of its pipes that carry wastewater from Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant to Bluff Pt and to fix the leak, stagnant treated wastewater had to be discharged into the ocean so technicians could get inside.

"Over the last two days we discharged from Windy Pt, 400m from Days Bay," a spokesperson said on social media.

"Unfortunately, emptying the pipe has stirred up some rather unpleasant smells."

They said the discharge has stopped now and apologised to residents in the area for the inconvenience caused by the smell.

The spokesperson went on to say all the water discharged had been treated to a high standard.

"We remove bacteria and viruses from our wastewater by using a milliscreen, aeration basins, clarifiers and ultraviolet (UV) light before returning it to our waterways."

Days Bay Beach is more than 400m from where the water was discharged, but Wellington Water is still testing the water to make sure it's safe.

"When we have done this previously, there has only been minor impact on the water quality 30m from the valve. Based on this, we don't believe there is any public health impact. As always, we have taken samples and are waiting for the results."