South Wairarapa District Council has commissioned Wellington Water Limited (WWL) to undertake an urgent ‘health-check’ on the district’s other wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) following the issues experienced at Martinborough.
An abatement notice issued to the Martinborough Wastewater Treatment Plant last August by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) precipitated a decision to suspend all new connections until corrective actions and a growth planning study are implemented.
The results of the checks have been produced promptly by WWL and a copy is available for the public on our website. Council engaged engineering consultant Stantec to advise on the compliance pathways for both Martinborough and Greytown.
Council’s Group Manager Partnerships and Operations, Stefan Corbett said “They advise that the most critical action we must take in all WWTPs is desludging and we are examining options to do that quickly and at least cost. As each site is desludged, learnings can be applied to other plants”.
Mr Corbett added, “If we can act quickly to desludge the Greytown plant and improve treatment capacity at the site, we will decrease the risk of potential future issues. Fortunately, we also have more options in Greytown to improve capacity”.
Council will be producing an improvement plan for Greytown and communicating that to the regulator in order to build trust and confidence. The recommended actions will align with a growth planning study to examine capacity needs. Council is examining options to fund this urgent work including the repurposing of the Better Off Funding received from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) as part of the three waters reform initiative.
It should be noted that addressing sludge levels and initiating an improvement plan is dependent on the 2023/24 Annual Plan being approved on 28 June and the re-purposing of the Better Off Funding for this work being approved fully by the DIA.
Memo – SWDC WWTP Growth Commentary May 2023 2905 [PDF]
MWWTP Technical Memorandum [PDF]
Technical enquiries to Rory.Milne@wellingtonwater.co.nz
Media contact:
Sheil Priest, General Manager, Communications & Engagement
South Wairarapa District Council
Mob: 027 252 2863
Email: media@swdc.govt.nz
