Photo: RNZThe catastrophic failure of the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant may have been caused by air trapped in the pipes, a report reveals. The Wellington plant failed on February 4 this year, flooding the facility and sending millions of litres of raw sewage into the sea each day. Wellington Water commissioned the engineering report the day after the failure to understand how the plant could be operated during the recovery. "The report found that air can become trapped in the wastewater bypass pipeline, particularly when there is a high flow of wastewater passing through the plant. He described what could have happened: "Sometimes you pull the plug out of your sink, and it doesn't go down as fast as you think, because it starts going glug, glug, glug, glug, glug... it's that type of effect.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 20, 2026 15:27 UTC