The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

'Very disturbing': Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board calls for investigation after raw sewage pours into Lake Taupō

Laurilee McMichael
By Laurilee McMichael
Editor·Taupo & Turangi Weekender·
2 Jul, 2019 09:25 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Focus Live earlier: Taupo residents urged to avoid flushing as wastewater pipe bursts

Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board chief executive Topia Rameka said it was "very disturbing" to hear of the major spill into Lake Taupō.

He said the board would be calling for a full investigation.

He understood the Taupō District Council and its contractors were doing a thorough clean-up operation.

"We will be keeping in close contact with council while that operation is in progress," Rameka said.

"While this incident is still unravelling, our immediate concerns are for the health and wellbeing of our local communities and our taonga - Lake Taupō and the Waikato River.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We will be calling for a full investigation of this incident, how it came to be, how it has been responded to and how it will be remedied to ensure such incidents are mitigated into the future."

Rameka said local infrastructure failings were becoming all too common of late.

"It is critical for all of us to be very clear about the issue and how we are to move forward to ensure our natural environment is protected and our critical services are safeguarded from failures such as today."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Taupō residents were asked to refrain from flushing or putting water into the wastewater system. Photo / Taupō District Council
Taupō residents were asked to refrain from flushing or putting water into the wastewater system. Photo / Taupō District Council

It will reportedly take weeks to clean up the huge discharge of raw sewage into Lake Taupō after a wastewater pipe broke on the lakefront.

The main burst just after 2pm and about an hour later the footpath collapsed and took out a wastewater pipe, causing an unknown quantity of wastewater to enter the lake for up to 1.5 hours.

Taupō mayor David Trewavas told the Herald the amount of wastewater entering the lake was now down to a trickle.

It was devastating this had happened to one of the cleanest lakes in the world but it appeared to be an act of nature, he said.

Discover more

New Zealand

Clean-up after raw sewage pours into Lake Taupō to take weeks

02 Jul 04:04 AM

The wastewater spill today followed nine separate wastewater spills into Lake Taupō between January 2017 and January 2018, most caused by inappropriate materials such as fat and wet wipes being flushed into the wastewater system, which blocked pipes and caused wastewater to overflow into the stormwater system.

The Taupō District Council mounted an intensive public education campaign and also stepped up its programme of using CCTV to inspect pipes, flushing them with high-pressure water and replacing pipework. The last wastewater spill was 18 months ago.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

Premium
The Country

'They just keep coming': Illegal hunting causes frustration and fear on East Coast

The Country

Watch: CCTV shows moment drug-driver caused tractor to crash into homes

The Country

Te Puke incident: Person airlifted after serious injury


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Premium
Premium
'They just keep coming': Illegal hunting causes frustration and fear on East Coast
The Country

'They just keep coming': Illegal hunting causes frustration and fear on East Coast

East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick highlights rising poaching concerns.

17 Jul 06:00 AM
Watch: CCTV shows moment drug-driver caused tractor to crash into homes
The Country

Watch: CCTV shows moment drug-driver caused tractor to crash into homes

17 Jul 03:49 AM
Te Puke incident: Person airlifted after serious injury
The Country

Te Puke incident: Person airlifted after serious injury

17 Jul 02:26 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP