Wellington sewage spill: ‘Many times over the safe limit,’ water testing results show
Friday, 6 February 2026
The first official test results are in after Wellington’s “catastrophic” sewage plant failure, which show very high bacterial readings near the Moa Point outfall but lower readings at some other sample sites.
Wellington Water emphasised it was not safe to swim at affected sites on the south coast and people need to keep out of the water. “Avoid the beach and do not collect kaimoana,” a spokesperson said.
Mayor Andrew Little said he will raise the sewage plant failure with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday, as people headed to the beaches where it was safe to swim on a sunny, warm Waitangi Day in the capital.
On Friday afternoon, Wellington Water said water samples from Hue Te Taka Peninsula, which is very close to the outfall, taken on Wednesday afternoon showed levels of enterococcus bacteria were many times over the safe limit.
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Three sampling locations done at 4pm on Wednesday returned levels of enterococcus above the guideline for safe swimming, while 15 sample results returned under the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health’s threshold level.
It was not able to determine the level of contamination or environmental impacts from one set of samples and would be doing daily sampling and reviewing results over the coming days.
However, they would be delayed because the bacteria needed to grow in laboratory conditions for 24 hours so it could be counted, and results then finalised.
South coast beaches have been closed after rain inundated the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant early on Wednesday morning, sending about 70 million litres a day of untreated sewage into the sea.
The longfall pipe funnelling wastewater into Cook Strait is now partially operating, screening sanitary pads and wet wipes, but warnings remain to stay clear of the coastline.
Wellington Water would keep sampling around the eastern bays ‒ Scorching Bay and Mahanga Bay ‒ to confirm the discharge was not affecting the inner harbour.
Discolouration in the inner harbour this week was typical of rain and stormwater runoff being discharged by the Hutt River.
Little, who has called the situation “catastrophic” and promised an independent investigation, addressed the wastewater failure in his speech at Waitangi Park on Friday.
Afterwards, he told The Post that sewage was likely to keep flowing out from the short outfall pipe “for some days” despite the progress made.
He understood the plant was still flooded but “progress is being made in terms of getting into the flooded areas and the damaged areas and cleaning the stuff out”.
If not removed, it could become anaerobic and septic, causing an odour problem and posing significant health risk to workers onsite, Wellington Water said.
Little would meet with Luxon and Local Government Minister Simon Watts on Monday.
“That was arranged some time ago, but this is a topic that now we'll be discussing.”
Watts has already requested “urgent advice” on the Moa Point wastewater failure and what options he had as minister to address the problem.
On Friday a handful of people were swimming in the sea at Oriental Bay, which was deemed safe, with people lying on the beach, but it was quieter than usual.
By comparison, usually popular Princess Bay and Island Bay were completely deserted where beaches were closed.
Island Bay resident Harri Fletcher planned to read on the beach at Oriental Bay but said she would be going for a swim when she found out it was safe.
Fletcher swam almost every day at Island Bay before work ‒ her morning ritual ‒ and it would be sad not to for a while. However, she mostly felt sad for the environment.
“It’s just sad, it’s disappointing, when human error hurts the planet.”
Laoise Carey and Izzi Pugh had just been for a swim and said the water was “lovely”.
The avid swimmers were happy to go in as long as the testing results were fine.
In an update earlier on Friday, Wellington Water board chair Nick Leggett said staff were able to get the 1800m long outfall pipe, which normally sends treated wastewater deep into Cook Strait, partially operating again on Thursday evening.
Screens at the treatment plant were also now working, removing items like sanitary pads and wet wipes from the wastewater before it was discharged.
It reduced the amount of untreated wastewater flowing around the coastline.
However, it was only able to pump 900 litres per second of wastewater, which was most of the wastewater during an average day, but during peak flows the short outfall pipe would be used.
Staff would continue to work to increase the volume through the long outfall pipe but the “situation remains complex and at this stage we are unable to provide a timeframe of when this may be”, Leggett said.
“Our advice to the public remains the same: we strongly advise that people avoid the coastal area along the south of Wellington until further notice.
“Do not enter the water or collect kaimoana from this area. Do not walk your dog along the beach.”