Hamilton stream contaminated with wastewater

Hamilton City Council is warning residents and their pets to stay away from Kirikiriroa Stream after wastewater overflowed into it on Tuesday.

In a statement released this morning, the council said wastewater overflowed from a storage chamber at the Huntington wastewater pump station after a communications failure in the station’s remote warning systems.

“The storage chamber on-site reached capacity shortly after and resulted in wastewater overflowing from the pump station and network into the Kirikiriroa Stream,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the issue was identified early on Wednesday morning and the overflow ceased just after 10am.

“Environmental monitoring of the Kirikiriroa Stream west of Queenwood will continue in coming days,” the statement said.

The area around the stream is used for recreation and signage has been erected noting a rāhui is in place at the site.

The council has asked people and their pets not to enter the waterway.

Under agreed protocols, Waikato Regional Council has been notified of the incident.