The recent burst wastewater pipe in Paremata has highlighted how important it is to look after the network carrying sewage away from our homes.

Fixing this pipe has become a priority but Porirua City Council is also taking a longer view, as signalled recently in its Long-term Plan (LTP), with investment in critical infrastructure and harbour health among key priorities for the coming 30 years.

One of the major projects planned is a storage tank to help stop wastewater overflowing into Porirua Stream and Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour.

The proposed tank will be located north of Porirua railway station, between SH1 and the railway line. It will hold up to seven million litres (about three Olympic-sized swimming pools) of wastewater when there is heavy rain. Once the rain stops, the wastewater from the tank will be pumped to the Wastewater Treatment Plant in and fully treated.

Porirua City Council will soon ask for public submissions on the planned tank.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker is welcoming progress on this project.

"We made infrastructure a priority in our LTP - anything that can take pressure off our wastewater network is important for Porirua. I will also be interested in hearing the views of our residents."

Wellington Water’s chief wastewater advisor, Steve Hutchison, says the tank will make a big difference to the harbour by reducing overflows from a known problem area.

"The tank’s being sited where three wastewater main pipes - from the north, south, and east - feed wastewater through one pump station to the treatment plant. This is currently a bottleneck and unfortunately wastewater overflows from here regularly in heavy rainfall. That’s why we need this tank."

The tank and related pump station and pipes have been designed to meet high standards of earthquake resilience.

Planning includes protecting the existing wetland and planting native trees to screen the tank from sight and improve the environment.

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