How a ‘poo-nami’ turned Wellington summer beach dreams into a stinky nightmare

WELLINGTON – The 18km southern coast of New Zealand’s capital is home to some of the city’s best surfing breaks. Divers are drawn to the rocky shores for the spearfishing and abalone harvesting, and the pristine Teputeranga Marine Reserve is known for its kelp forests and marine diversity. 

But these beaches sat eerily empty for much of February, the hottest and busiest time of the year in New Zealand.

A subtle stench lingers near Moa Point, where equipment at a waste water treatment plant malfunctioned during a storm on Feb 4.

For two days, raw sewage – murky human waste mixed with toilet papers, tampons and wet wipes – was pumped straight into the sea just off the beach at neighbouring Tarakena Bay.

Since then, about 70 million litres of untreated sewage – or about 28 Olympic-sized swimming pools –

 has been flowing into the ocean daily.

 

Red health warning signs went up everywhere, advising people not to enter the water, collect seafood or walk their dogs on the south coast shores.

Finally, after weeks of barren shorelines, beaches from Owhiro Bay to Breaker Bay reopened at midday on Feb 25, but with a caveat: Swim at your own risk.

Wellington mayor Andrew Little’s announcement on the lifting of the blanket beach ban brought much relief to beach goers, who wasted no time in putting on their togs and getting out their surfboards, to soak up the last and best of summer, which officially ends on Feb 28. 

At the 2km long Lyall Bay beach, more than 10 surfers could be seen riding the waves with the treatment plant looming in the background. There were as many swimmers and walkers soaking up the lingering warmth of the day before the evening cool sets in.

Ms Bibi Hawkes, 44, who hit Lyall Bay for a swim every day before the ban, told The Straits Times she rushed down with her 12-year-old daughter the moment she heard the news of beaches reopening. 

“The water is lovely today. I didn’t see any poo around. The sea was somewhat brown the last couple of days, and I’d like to think it’s kelp,” she said.

Most of the wastewater is now being screened to remove large items before being pumped further out to sea – untreated – through a 1.8km long pipe, into the Cook Strait, to allow greater dilution of the wastewater.

But rough weather on Feb 17 saw stormwater entering the sewerage network caused this pipe to exceed its capacity. Three million litres of unscreened sewage were again discharged through an shorter emergency pipe into Tarakena Bay.

The creaking Moa Point plant processes wastewater from about 180,000 people.

Owned by Wellington City Council and managed by council-owned Wellington Water, its operations are contracted to French multinational Veolia. It was undergoing refurbishment works at the time of the failure.

For nearly a month after the Moa Point plant was incapacitated, there was initially no certainty when it will be operational again, or when beaches might reopen.

Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty has said 80 per cent of the plant electronics were damaged, and it could be months before these are fixed. The government has promised an inquiry.

The new health advice is for the public to check where it is safe to swim at the Land Air Water Aotearoa website.

Mr Little has explained that the decision to reopen was based on daily water sampling along 23 sites on the south coast over the past three weeks, under different weather and sea conditions. Wellington Water found low or negligible contamination when untreated water was not discharged close to the shore.

“I do want to be clear: a risk remains, but monitoring results so far show that it is low and it is now up to people to decide how they respond to the current information,” he said. He took the plunge in front of the media in a show of confidence for the water quality. 

Wellington Water advised caution for surfers and divers whose activities are further from the shore, as water sampling has not been done farther afield where sewage is still discharged.

Tarakena Bay remains closed, as Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant may activate its emergency sewage discharge during wet weather.

For those who live and work along the south coast, the beach closures had been devastating.

“It’s just sad. People are all gone,” said Lyall Bay resident Maria Y, 60, when walking her dog along the footpath next to the empty beach on Feb 20. “It’s a shame. Hopefully, they will fix it quickly.”

Ms Vicky Shen, owner of fish and chips shop Seaview Takeaways across at Lyall Bay beach, said business, like for others in the area, had halved in recent weeks. Her weekend sales had been down 70 per cent.

No families, no children. “Usually in summer, you can’t even find a car park here,” she told ST.

Mr Roger Titcombe, the 78-year-old owner of Real Surf, was pleased with the news, and planned to hit the waters the very evening beaches reopened to celebrate.

Just a week earlier, he had bemoaned how peak season had been flipped on its head.

“I’m angry about everything,” said the veteran surf retailer, who has run the shop for 25 years.

“Revenue has dropped from thousands a day to hundreds. No one is hiring surfboards any more. If not for my online business, I would be out of business.”

He pointed to Wellington’s dark history of discharging raw sewage at Moa Point as late as the 1990s. “We used to surf in untreated water. We didn’t know better, and we never got sick.”

Still, concerns are growing over the ecological impacts in the fragile marine reserve and abundant sea life. According to the “Whale and dolphin watch – Wellington” Facebook group, pods of dolphins have been spotted on multiple occasions around the south coast and inner harbour since the sewage leak.

While there is no sign that the dolphins are distressed due to the discharge, Mr Shane Geange, principal science advisor from the Department of Conservation, warned that species and habitats at risk include mussels, sea urchin, abalone, fish and penguins.

“We may see potential environmental impacts like algal blooms and deoxygenated water, as well as bacteria, viruses and parasites,” he said to the New Zealand Science Media Centre, an expert science resource network. These could lead to heat stress for penguins and make shellfish unsafe for consumption.

Locals have also contended with the “poo-nami” and “poo-nado” of faecal spray being blown inland by strong southerly winds into their houses.

Wellington Water advised that the brown, foamy seawater poses a very low health risk, as bugs do not survive long on dry surfaces.

Try telling that to residents whose homes have received this unwelcomed spray.

“It’s slimy grime,” an Island Bay resident named Chris told Radio New Zealand, on the layer of liquid that has covered his home near a beach about 7km west of the Moa point sewage treatment plant, after a storm on Feb 16.

“When you run your finger along it, you get these brown marks of this residue that’s on there – and that’s certainly not from salt,” he said of his house, which was once cream coloured.

Another Wellington southern coast resident, who declined to be named, said the episode tarnishes New Zealand’s “clean and green” reputation.

“The beach is empty, and the slight odour is a reminder of the pollution. I’m not even drying my clothes outside any more,” she said, worried about her laundry.

Ageing infrastructure means sewage issues like this Moa Point episode are, unfortunately, rather common.

Water infrastructure has long been under strain in Wellington. Just two summers ago, during a dry spell, the capital lost about 40 per cent of its treated drinking water because of leaking pipes.

This time, summer dreams of restless youth have hit a washout. My own children had been looking forward to snorkelling among the reefs of Taputeranga or riding the waves at Lyall Bay and ending the day with ice cream.

The south coast is just a 10-minute drive away from home. Instead, they have been stuck at home or restricted to hiking inland.

We debated the risk of entering the sea this weekend. 

“Our summer is ruined,” my daughter sighed.