Public warned after raw sewage leaks into Tukituki River

Raw sewage leaked into the Pah Flat Drain, which flows into the Tukituki River.

The public is being warned to avoid swimming in Tukituki River immediately downstream of Waipukurau.

A power outage and system failure at the wastewater treatment plant at Mt Herbert Rd, Waipukurau on Monday afternoon caused a raw sewage leak which overflowed into the Pah Flat drain, and into the Tukituki River.

This is being investigated and samples of the discharge have been taken for analysis.

Hawke's Bay Regional and Central Hawke's Bay District Councils are advising the public to avoid contact with areas immediately downstream of the Tukituki river for the next few days.

Waipukurau's sewage ponds, next to the Tukituki River in Central Hawke's Bay.

CHB District Council has said the nature of the control system failure meant that back-up systems which are in place were also compromised and that alarm systems weren't operational.

A spokesperson for the council has said "the loss of the main pumping plant caused an overflow into the Pah Flat Drain for a period in the late afternoon yesterday.

"We had teams from council and HBRC on site quickly to repair the issue and to assess effects to the waterway."

CHB District Council CEO Monique Davidson said "we are disappointed that the back-up systems we can normally rely on failed us in this instance. We take any impact on our local environment seriously, and are proactively seeking to understand why our back-up systems have failed in this instance."

Water samples have been taken and sent for analysis from the Tukituki River, with results expected in the next few days.

The Hawke's Bay DHB and HB Regional Council will be advising on public health measures.