A major upgrading of Edgecumbe’s wastewater reticulation system is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The $1.2 million upgrade will significantly lift sewerage pumping and piping capacity in the western sectors of the town and should bring an end to longstanding sewer overflow issues.

Whakatāne District Council Utilities Manager, Santha Agas, says the problems in that area stem from stormwater inflow and infiltration into the sewerage system during heavy rain events. “We’ve undertaken a number of projects to try and prevent stormwater from overloading the sewerage system, with limited success. The current work will ensure that there is sufficient capacity in the system to deal with those peak flows and should greatly reduce the likelihood of heavy rain-related sewerage overflows in the south-western and north-western parts of the town.”

Major components of the project have included a much larger pump station to replace two smaller capacity stations in the Kowhai Street area and a new and larger rising main stretching some 1.3 kilometres north to the final pump station (north of Tawhara Place) in the reticulation system. A new rising main has also been constructed from the Bridge Street pump station to link in with the new north-south rising main.

“We still have one job to complete, and that’s the installation of a new rising main from the Tawhara Place station to the town’s sewerage treatment ponds. We expect that $300,000 project to be undertaken this financial year. The Council is very appreciative of the level of cooperation and patience residents in the work areas have shown. Like them, we look forward to having a vastly improved wastewater system which will meet the town’s needs for decades to come,” Mr Agas concludes.