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Storm and Wastewater Strategy Project

Masterton District Council is running a pilot study to identify the source of water entering the wastewater system, focusing on the Cockburn Street area (including Taranaki Street, Patea Place, Okato Place and Kuripuni Street).

Project Update | 9 October 2024

Over the past few months, we have been working to identify the source of water entering the wastewater system.

The work completed to date includes:

  • Smoke testing (which involves forcing a dense, non-toxic and odourless smoke into the wastewater (sewer) system at a manhole. The smoke then fills the main sewer pipe and any connected pipes and follows the path of any breaks in pipework to the ground surface. We have carried out smoke testing in:
    • Cockburn Street
    • Taranaki Street
    • Patea Place
    • Okato Place
    • Millard Avenue
    • Kuripuni Street
  • Full replacement of 12 manholes since June.
  • Replacement of the stormwater crossing drain in Okato Place.
  • Installation of monitoring instruments to collect data to help assess and model water flow rates. These will be in place till the end of October.

Work scheduled

  • The Taranaki Street sewer pipe is scheduled to be relined in October (relining is a trenchless solution for repairing damaged and aging pipes). The Cockburn Street pipes were relined in 2008.
  • Development of a hydraulic model which will assist us with identifying network hot spots/potential capacity areas (starting with the trial area).

Results of the work

It is pleasing to note that the heavy downpours in September did not impact the trial area in any way.

The data received to date from the monitoring instruments (collected at 5-minute intervals) provides evidence that the asset replacement work has been effective.

Key documents

Previous updates

Project Update | 4 September 2024

Over the past few months, we have been working to identify the source of water entering the wastewater system. We carried out smoke testing in both Cockburn Street and Taranaki Street. Smoke testing involves forcing a dense, non-toxic and odourless smoke into the wastewater (sewer) system at a manhole.The smoke fills the main sewer pipe and any connected pipes and follows the path of any breaks in pipework to the ground surface.

These tests identified issues with several manholes along Taranaki Street. We are eliminating asset issues as they are discovered based on likelihood of risk. Where other less obvious issues were found, the project team have instigated further investigations, a drain camera will be used to determine the location and cause of the breaks in the pipework. This work is underway and will be completed over the next few weeks.

The work completed in August includes:

  • full replacement of the manhole at the intersection of Cockburn Street and Colombo Road
  • full replacement of a manhole in Andrew Street
  • installation of monitoring instruments in Cockburn Street/South Road manhole to collect data to help assess and model water flow rates. These will be in place till the end of October.

Work scheduled

  • Replacement of the manhole at Makoura/Kuripuni intersection
  • Smoke testing of Kuripuni Street
  • Replacement of the stormwater crossing drain in Okato Place
  • The Taranaki Street sewer pipe is scheduled to be relined in October (relining is a trenchless solution for repairing damaged and aging pipes). The Cockburn Street pipes were relined in 2008.
  • Development of a hydraulic model which will assist us with identifying network hot spots/potential capacity areas (starting with the trial area).

Results of recent wet weather

It is pleasing to note that the last weekend of heavy downpours did not impact the trial area in any way. This was evident in how the system coped with infiltration of approximately 20mm of rainfall over a six-hour period between 8pm on Saturday 31 August and 3am on Sunday 1 September. The water did not breach the high tide mark on the pipe in the new manhole at the Cockburn/Colombo intersection.

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