Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant update

Karl Frost from Strathmore Park Residents Association (Inc)

Confirming we will have three people from Wellington Water at our meeting tomorrow night to provide updates and take questions regarding the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant incident. This is your chance to hear from and talk to Wellington Water directly about what happened and what is being done, so please join us at Te Tuhunga Rau Strathmore Park Community Centre at 7:30pm tomorrow night!

UPDATE 16 18:00 - 10/02/2026: WASTEWATER TREAMENT PLANT - Moa Point - Discharge
Incident Controller: Sam Lister/Garry Butler
Operations Lead: Dave Neru (Veolia)
Technical Advisor: Steve Hutchison / Amy Smith
Environmental Lead: Jude Chittock
Stakeholder Comms: Glenis Bruin
External Comms: Stephanie Rodgers / Molly Callanan-Bartlett
Iwi Liaison: Talia Rei

Response: Level 5

Kia ora Koutou,

Current situation
Work is continuing at Moa Point Treatment Plant today to clean the plant and minimise the impacts of odour.
Moa Point Treatment Plant is continuing to discharge screened wastewater through the long outfall pipe. This means solid items like wipes and sanitary products have been removed, but it has not gone through biological or ultraviolet treatment.
No wastewater has been discharged through the short outfall pipe since 9pm Thursday 5 February. However, it could be required at short notice if there is increased flow into the plant. We are investigating options to increase the capacity of screened wastewater through the long outfall pipe to reduce the risk of needing to use of the short outfall pipe during higher flows.
Removing biological material from the plant and cleaning out affected rooms is a significant task. Approximately 90% of this has been completed and this work has continued today. Fresh water is being flushed through the biological treatment areas of the plant to reduce levels of hydrogen sulphide, which makes the interior of the plant hazardous to enter.
We are continuing to ascertain the full impact of the flooding on the plant’s equipment and operations. This assessment will take some time, and we still expect that this will be an extended outage at the plant.
Odour complaints have been received, and odour levels will be more noticeable while the plant odour and ventilation equipment is offline and screening is working in a temporary configuration. Odour neutralising equipment is being deployed to reduce the amount of odour around the plant, and we have odour monitors measuring the impact at sites surrounding the plant.
We thank the Wellington community for their support and understanding. This is a complex and changeable situation, and we appreciate that it creates a lot of uncertainty and concern for our natural environment, which we share.

Sampling
Water sampling results have been released for Sunday 8 February, between 10:30am and 2:00pm, around the Moa Point treatment plant short outfall pipe and southern coast beaches.
There has been no discharge from the short outfall pipe since 9pm, Thursday 5 February.
We will continue to sample and publish results daily until further notice.

Key points:
Results indicate that the untreated wastewater initially discharged from the short outfall has dispersed from the area around Tarakena Bay.
Rainfall is forecast for the end of this week, which is likely to result in a discharge from the short outfall.
Public health officials strongly advise against gathering shellfish or kai moana on the south coast beaches. Shellfish remain contaminated for weeks after exposure to wastewater.
Public health officials continue to caution people against visiting the south coast beaches, swimming, kayaking, or otherwise coming into contact with sea water or spray.
Water sampling results are only one component used to assess the overall public health risk. Wellington Water is working with Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Health NZ and technical experts to regularly review this guidance.
Tides, rain and other weather conditions can all significantly impact the results, and changes can occur quickly. The weather conditions over the past week (no rain and absence of a strong southerly) were very favourable in terms of limiting the impact of the discharge outside the immediately affected area.
While Moa Point Treatment Plant continues to discharge untreated wastewater to the ocean, and there is a high probability of the short outfall being used in wet weather, the risk to public health remains high.
There is no evidence to suggest the discharge from Moa Point Treatment Plant is reaching the inner harbour.
LAWA remains the best source of information for safe swimming at beaches outside the rāhui area: www.lawa.org.nz....