Wellington residents urged to avoid south coast beaches for days after major sewage spill

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Heavy rain caused a major flood at Wellington Water’s plant, forcing a full shutdown. Untreated wastewater is discharging into the bay, while crews work to divert flows and assess damage.

Wellington residents are being urged to stay out of the water on the region’s south coast, after an equipment failure at a water treatment plant saw untreated sewage discharged into the sea.

The sewage would continue to flow into the sea for some time, said Wellington Water CEO Pat Dougherty, who has apologised to the public and iwi for the environmental and public health impacts.

“The biggest impact is going to be on Wellingtonians being denied use of the south coast for the next few weeks, if not months.”

The incident at the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant was discovered about 1am on Wednesday, after heavy rain and flooding caused a power outage, alerting Fire and Emergency NZ.

An equipment failure at the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant has resulted in untreated sewage spewing out to sea.

As a result, untreated wastewater was discharged into Tarakena Bay, prompting authorities to urge people not to swim at or collect seafood from Wellington’s south coast.

At a press conference, Wellington mayor Andrew Little said residents wouldn’t be able to use the beach for at least the next few days, which was “incredibly disappointing”.

“This could not have come at a worse time… This is the time of year when people go to the beach,” he said

Residents were urged to avoid the south coast beaches.

“The sea is unsafe at the moment… Plan not to swim, plan not to go onto the beach. Don’t take your dog onto the beach, don’t let your kids play on the beach. The risks are too high.”

Little added that the Wellington Harbour was safe to swim in, though residents should take note of any contamination warnings that were typical after periods of heavy rain.

People may check the water quality at their local beach on the Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website.

The extent of the damage at the Moa Point plant is not yet known, and won’t be until the wastewater can be removed from the facility.

However, Dougherty, the Wellington Water CEO, said it could take months to repair - the cost of which could not yet be determined.

Wellington Water CEO Pat Dougherty apologised to the public for any environmental and public health impacts.

Part of the facility was three metres underwater and unable to be accessed by staff, he said.

“We’ve had to shut down the plant completely. Our immediate focus is restoring power to the plant, resuming service, and diverting wastewater to the long outfall pipe, which will improve dispersion and reduce impact on the coastline.”

Stuff is at Lyall Bay talking to people about the wastewater situation, with surfers around the area either being upset at the lack of signage and information surrounding the discharge, and others not caring.

Wellington Water would conduct an investigation into what exactly went wrong, the findings of which would be made public, Dougherty said. The organisation was also speaking with the Department of Conservation regarding any environmental impacts.

Dougherty said the incident had set Wellington back “30 or 40” years in terms of wastewater management.

“I can’t emphasise just how disappointed we are about that.”

The council was busy putting up signage at south coast beaches alerting people that the water wasn’t safe to swim in.

Some locals told Stuff on Wednesday afternoon they hadn’t seen that signage, and expressed anxiety about the uncertainty over when they could go back into the water.

A Stuff visual journalist near the sea at Moa Point said it “smell[ed] really bad”, with toilet paper, tampons and condoms washed up on the beach.