It could be months until people can swim again after sewage leak, says Wellington Water

Monday, 9 February 2026

Samples of the water and muck being collected in Tarakena Bay, just around from the failed wastewater plant at Moa Point, on 5 February, 2026.

Wellington Water says people may have to stay out of the water around Wellington's south coast for months.

It comes as leaders, including the prime minister, are backing calls for a governmental inquiry into Wellington's Moa Wastewater Treatment Plant fiasco.

Crews have spent the weekend trying to clean up Wellington's wastewater plant so they can assess the damage after it was shut down due to being flooded by raw sewage. It's likely to be months before the Moa Point plant is back in operation.

In the meantime, millions of litres of untreated sewage continue to spill out into the Cook Strait since early Wednesday.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Morning Report the failure was 'catastrophic' and he would be further talking with the mayor later on Monday.

'It is incredibly concerning for the public, and I can understand their frustration about the quality of their water assets in Wellington in particular,' Luxon said.

He said he would support a government inquiry.

'It is important that we do get to the bottom of what has actually caused such a failure in this way.'

Green MP Julie Anne Genter, who is the local MP, told Morning Report earlier on Monday the plant's failure was devastating.

Workers and volunteers scoop up waste and debris at Tarakena Bay Beach after an equipment failure at Wellington’s Moa Point wastewater plant sent untreated sewage into the sea, prompting health warnings and beach closures.

'It's really disappointing. I know so many people in Wellington love our south coast, and this is precisely the time they would be out there on a beautiful day on the beach,' Genter said.

'… It's bad for us, but it is even worse for our wildlife.'

She said there were little blue penguins, or kororā, in the bay and a pod of dolphins there on Sunday.

'We can do better, we have to do better.'

Genter said the council was putting enormous amounts of money into Moa Point, with an upgrade happening at the wastewater treatment plant.

She said concerns have previously been raised over the performance of Moa Point plant's privately-owned operator Veolia.

'There seems to be some separation between the private company, Wellington Water and the ability of the elected people to get the results that we need,' she said.

Genter said there needs to be a full investigation.

Wellington mayor Andrew Little said last week that he would raise the 'catastrophic' failure of the city's sewage plant with the prime minister on Monday.

Little said one of the questions in the days ahead would be about setting up an appropriate investigation or inquiry into what happened.

'We can't let this happen again,' he said. 'We can't let such a critical plant for a modern city fail in the way that this has and cause the environmental degradation that it has.

'It's important we get the facts and it's important we understand what we need to do to prevent it from happening again.'