Whangārei District Council says protocol was not followed over sewage spill discovery

A Whangārei woman has been left $1300 out of pocket after the council refused to pay a plumber’s bill incurred when one of its sewer lines blocked, spilling raw sewage all over her yard.

Whangārei District Council says had it been called first - as per protocol - then the council could have provided the service free of charge.

Both the woman and the council are raising awareness about the steps residents whose homes are connected to a public sewer system should take when faced with a sewage spill.

Cat Green has been left with a $1300 bill after a council sewer line was blocked. Photo / Tania Whyte

Several weeks ago, Cat Green was at home with her children when her partner arrived home from work and asked if she had been outside that morning.

“He was like, it stinks of s***,” she said.

The couple realised the water in the gully at the back of their home was “really high” and after a bit of investigating, they figured it was blocked.

Following the advice of a colleague who works in the construction industry, Green contacted a plumber.

The tradesman ended up calling in a second plumber and more advanced equipment to find the evasive blockage.

Three hours later, with the help of a camera, the plumbers had traced the blockage to the street.

“They were pumping water out and heaps of s*** is coming up, literally, through my garden and up this gully by my house.”

The couple would later find a stranger’s tampon on their lawn amid the mess.

The plumbers conceded to the couple they needed someone greater than them due to the enormity of the problem. So they contacted the Whangārei District Council, which swiftly sent out a contractor.

He too examined the drains and gullies at the couple’s property first, only to remain perplexed.

“He went out onto the street and opened a manhole in front of the Whau Valley shops and he was like, yeah this is what’s blocked, it’s the main sewer line,” Green said.

Council contractors spent roughly six hours vacuuming sewage from the spill area and gully trap, offloading it at the treatment plant, and flushing mostly gravel from the Kamo Rd sewer.

Green said the contractors told her the bill would be sent to the council. However, she has been left with the $1300 invoice received from the plumber who was first called to address the blockage.

When Green emailed the council to give them the full rundown of what had happened, she received a brief response that said, “Sorry we do not reimburse plumbing costs” and in future please first call the council’s around-the-clock phone number.

Council’s waste and drain manager Simon Charles said people living in properties connected to the public sewer system should always call the council first when a sewer spill is discovered.

“Our team will check the problem free of charge. If there is a blockage on our side of the property boundary we will take care of it free of charge and do a clean-up.”

And if the blockage is on private property then people can either have the council’s team clean it up on the spot at a cost or engage their own plumber or contractor.

But Green said: “How many people would know this?”

However, Charles countered by saying the information is available on the council’s website.

Green made the point that the council says if they are called for a problem that turns out not to be theirs then that person pays but that the courtesy isn’t being extended the other way in her case.

Charles said they encourage plumbers to advise people reporting a sewer spill to contact the council first.

“[...] That way no one incurs any cost if the blockage is found to be on council’s land.”

Karina Cooper is deputy news director and covers breaking and general news for the Advocate. She also has a special interest in investigations.