Stormwater
In many of Auckland’s older suburbs, stormwater and sewerage is combined. As the population has increased, infrastructure has failed to adapt adequately, and changes in climate make rainfall events more intense.
Under the terms of its resource consent, Watercare is allowed to overflow sewerage into the harbour twice per year per engineered overflow point. At some 50 locations in the western isthmus, such as here in Herne Bay, the overflow is tripped almost every time it rains, spilling around 2.2 million cubic metres of diluted wastewater into the harbour each year.
