Wastewater Discharge Middleton's Bay

Precautionary warning signs have been put up at Middleton’s Bay today after a small amount of diluted wastewater was discharged into the Tasman Sea after power was cut to Ōpunakē’s waste water pump station.

South Taranaki District Council operations manager, Herbert Denton says the power supply was cut after a member of the public ran over and damaged a power box to the pump station.

“Sucker trucks and a generator were brought in while the power was being restored, but a small amount of diluted wastewater was discharged through our emergency outfall about half a kilometre off Middleton’s Bay,” says Denton.

“It was only a trickle so during the 3–4 hour period when the power was out only about 1.5 cubic metres was discharged.”

Denton says while power has since been restored to the pump station, warning signs will remain up for a couple of days following Council’s standard procedure.