Significant rain event in Taupō

A significant rain event occurred in Taupō yesterday afternoon which resulted in surface flooding, slips, a tomo and an increase in volumes discharging through Taupō District Council's Taupō Wastewater Treatment Plant, due to rainwater infiltrating the wastewater network.

Typically wastewater is treated through the treatment plant and is then pumped to council’s land disposal sites and used as irrigation. The pumps which transfer treated wastewater to the land disposal system were unable to keep up with the significant increase in volume, which resulted in some of the treated wastewater discharging into the Waikato River.

The overflow started just before 6pm and stopped at approximately 7pm and it is estimated that between 150 to 200 cubic meters (of treated wastewater) discharged to the river.

With high river flows, and the relatively short period of time that the discharge occurred over, it is expected that risks to water quality were short lived, however council staff are continuing to complete further in-river sampling to check water quality results.

At the time of the event, Waikato Regional Council were notified, along with relevant iwi and hapu and downstream river users, and we will continue to work with them in the coming days.

Samples of the discharge and upstream and downstream sites (in the Waikato River) have been collected and a full investigation will be undertaken to identify any measures which could assist with managing Taupō's wastewater system during high intensity weather events.