‘Stay out of the water’: Raw sewage spewing into sea off Wellington’s south coast

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Are you satisfied with Wellington Water’s response to the wastewater issue? Have your say in the comments.

Electrical and control equipment are under water at Wellington’s wastewater treatment plant after flooding, thought to have been caused by a blockage that occurred overnight during heavy rain, which also means sewage is being discharged into the sea.

“Something has happened and we haven’t figured out what it is yet,” Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, adding that “I can’t emphasise [enough] just how disappointed we are.”

The Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant will shut for a period while investigations are under way, including putting a camera down its 1800m “longfall” pipe which discharges wastewater into the sea.

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While the longfall pipe is out of action, the 5m-long short outfall is discharging water essentially onto the coastline, making the sea and the beach dangerous.

A room the size of an Olympic swimming pool was under wastewater, and there was no ventilation. The extent of the damage to the equipment and what could be salvageable was unclear and would take some time to fix or replace.

Dougherty said this short outfall discharge system set the city “back to 30 or 40 years ago with the short outfall going”.

“I am at a loss to understand why it backed up.”

Wellingtonians and anyone considering visiting the south coast over the coming days were strongly warned to avoid the beach at Lyall Bay and the south coast area, including dog walkers.

Wellington mayor Andrew Little said it was “incredibly disappointing”, particularly in summer. “This could not have come at a worse time,” Little said.

Wellington Water said an equipment failure early at 1am on Wednesday meant the Moa Point plant was shut down and all staff evacuated. Wellington Water took action immediately, Dougherty said.

He said he “couldn’t begin to guess” the cost of fixing the problem, and the extent of the damage, and the cause, was still unknown.

“Multiple floors and key areas of the plant have been inundated. This is a serious situation, and we anticipate the plant will be shut down for an extended period,” Dougherty said.

“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.”

The poor weather on Wednesday and recent rain meant it was unlikely that many people had been swimming on the south coast, he said.

But the advice was “stay out of the water”, and it was advisable not to walk dogs along the southern beaches in case they jumped in.

“We strongly advise the community to stay away from the south coast beaches. There is currently untreated wastewater being discharged into the water and this may occur for some time.”

Public signage was being put up and people should not enter the water of collect kai moana. A rāhui was being placed over the area.

“This is a complex incident, and all necessary resources are being utilised,” Dougherty said.

“Wellington Water acknowledges that this is unacceptable and we apologise to the public, local community and our iwi partners for the public health and environmental impact caused.”

Wellington Water said the untreated wastewater was discharging into Tarakena Bay, east of Moa Point.

Wellington harbour was safe for swimming, aside from standard warnings following rainfall, Little said.

Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter said the situation was “hugely disappointing” for people on the south coast wanting to make the most of summer.

“It shows the importance of investing responsibly in our infrastructure, and ensuring we are working with nature to protect our wai and our moana,” she said.

“Thanks to all those working to fix the problem as promptly as possible.”

South coast resident Ray Ahipene-Mercer, formerly a Wellington City councillor who pushed for the existing plant, which opened in 1998, said it appeared to be a “bad situation”.

“There needs to be utmost attention immediately to remedying the problem, [finding out] what caused it and how to mitigate it in the future,” he said.

He was a spokesperson on the Wellington Clean Water Campaign, which insisted that the new plant be built with an 1800m outfall pipe, which was a fail-safe to take sewage far out to sea if there was a failure. But words form Wellington Water suggested pumps to get sewage into the outfall were also not working, he said.

Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) has warned that Wellington beaches are currently unsuitable for swimming but this appears to be a standard warning after heavy rain.

The Post in December reported that, from October to May, a new ultraviolet disinfection system was being installed at the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant so it was working at reduced capacity.

“When it's raining, wastewater volumes are higher than usual, and some wastewater may bypass the full treatment, resulting in a discharge of partially treated wastewater via the long outfall pipe, 1.8km offshore,” the warning says.

“Any discharges in this location, will be heavily diluted due to significant tidal flows.”