Urgent investigation underway after overflow at treatment plant
An urgent investigation is underway to determine the cause of an overflow that occurred overnight at the Taupō Wastewater Treatment Plant which has resulted in partially treated wastewater entering the Waikato River.
Council staff are onsite and have contained the overflow this morning and are now collecting water samples from the river and cleaning up the overflow.
Chief executive Gareth Green said an immediate investigation is underway to determine the cause of the overflow.
“We are urgently trying to determine what has happened at the plant and how much has entered the river. Something has obviously failed or broken to allow this to happen - we don’t know what that is yet and we are trying to get to the bottom of that as soon as possible.
“However, at the end of the day, this is something that should not happen and we apologise unreservedly to the community and to our hapu and iwi,” he said.
Signs are being put in place and we are advising the community and contacting those who use the river to let them know to avoid swimming in the area until further notice.