25 June 2025: Ohinemutu wastewater overflow
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Wastewater overflow at Ohinemutu
Enquiry
Following on from an enquiry yesterday about a wastewater overflow at Ohinemutu last week, the reporter had the following additional information and questions:
Can you clarify - is the council saying the sewerage only went into the geothermal pond, and didn't reach Ruapeka Bay?
Cr Lani Kereopa said on Facebook it's "another spill" into Ruapeka Bay, and that makes "over 60 sewerage overflows into our village water boundary since 2002". Is that figure correct, and if not, how many have there been?
She further says: "Move your culturally-insensitive & environmentally-degrading shit reticlation pump station that we never asked for out of our village & over to your tourist lakefront Rotorua Lakes Council!" Does the council wish to respond to that?
Can you come back to us by 11am tomorrow,
Subsequent from reporter:
Lani said she got the figure from a council LGOIMA response of sewerage overflows into streams that eventually flow into in Ruapeka Bay between 2006 & 2023. She didn't have the full response to hand but fwd'd the data supplied, attached.
She also clarified the geography for me, in that Ohinemutu is in Ruapeka Bay, which encompasses the lakefront from the Utuhina stream across to and including the culturally and spiritually significant Ruapeka lagoon.
She said a witness told her it "was not a small amount" of sewerage that spilled.
She said the pump station should never have been put into the geothermal village - she understood this happened in or about the 90s.
Does the council have any estimate of how long the pipe had been leaking in this incident?
What area does the pipe that leaked carry waste from? I assume it goes to the treatment plant.
When was the pump station in Ohinemutu commissioned?
Response
We provided the following information:
Is the council saying the sewerage only went into the geothermal pond, and didn't reach Ruapeka Bay?
We can’t say definitively. The overflow entered a geothermal pond near Tunohopu Street, which connects to Ruapeka Bay via a small channel. However, due to the pond’s volume and the small amount of overflow, it’s unlikely any significant amount reached the lake.
Water quality samples taken on Monday and again yesterday confirmed there is no ongoing risk. Warning signage is being removed.
When was the pump station installed in the geothermal village?
The Ohinemutu pump station on Tunohopu Street was installed in 1995 to service a low-lying geothermal area. Pump stations are required to pump sewage up from low-lying areas to the treatment plant.
It pumps wastewater via a rising main through Makitauna Street to a gravity-fed system at Kiharoa Street.
The network was upgraded in 2009 using Hathernware pipe and a fibreglass-lined wet well, both designed to withstand geothermal heat and corrosion.
How long had the pipe been leaking?
There’s no confirmed timeframe, but in populated areas leaks are usually reported quickly and dealt with promptly.
What area does the affected pipe service?
It services the Tarawera Road and Ohinemutu Village areas.
