Wastewater Treatment Plant Performance Review

Napier City Council owns two Biological Trickling Filters (BTFs) which treat Napier’s wastewater at the Awatoto Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

Alongside a spiritually cleansing Papatūānuku channel, these Biological Trickling Filters were constructed to address tangata whenua concerns about the quality of wastewater being discharged.

A consent issued by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council allows Napier City Council to discharge the final, treated wastewater into the ocean through a 1.8km outfall. Our consent requires us to monitor the quality of the wastewater before and after BTF treatment so it is able to be discharged. The Council is required to produce a performance report every three years to demonstrate the BTFs are doing their job.

The 2021 WWTP review report is currently in draft form. It finds the BTFs are performing effectively and are largely compliant, minimising effects on the marine environment.

We know there are some areas of our consent where we are not doing as well as we should, such as with zinc and ammonia levels. We are working with industry and other key stakeholders to mitigate this and improve our performance. We are committed to ensuring the final wastewater entering the ocean remains environmentally safe.

Industry experts at SLR Consulting have compiled the current draft performance report summarising the last three years of wastewater monitoring data. A summary document is also available.

As part of our resource consent monitoring, Napier City Council wants to know what you think of how well the BTFs are treating our wastewater.

• Read the full report here.
• Read the summary document here.

Have your say on the Wastewater Treatment Plant Performance