A pipe carrying treated wastewater has failed in Raglan.
A member of the public notified Waikato District Council this morning that the pipe was exposed at the point where it exits the dunes into Raglan Harbour.
“Watercare responded promptly and identified the failure at a bend in the pipe,” the council said.
“The treated discharge has eroded the surrounding sand dune back to the point where the remaining pipe is exposed.
“It is currently unclear exactly when the failure occurred, but the last known discharge was during the outgoing tide last night.”
All discharge flows are paused, and the area is fenced off while the pipe is under repair.
Work to repair the pipe was unable to be completed on Friday after contractors raised concerns over the stability of the sand bank where the pipe exited.
“To ensure a safe and durable repair, gabion rock will be delivered to the site [Saturday] morning to create a solid foundation for the outfall pipe to be reinstalled against.”
The council said the Raglan Wastewater Treatment Plant had 48 hours of storage capacity, meaning there was no immediate risk of overflow, and no emergency discharge was required.
Repair work was expected to be completed by the end of tomorrow once the site was stabilised.
The Waikato Council asked the public to avoid the area until the repair was fully completed.
