Ruakākā Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade
- Project typeWastewater treatment plant upgrade
- Project schedule2025 to 2030
Bream Bay (including One Tree Point, Marsden, Ruakākā and Waipū) is an area of high growth identified in the Whangārei District Growth Strategy and the Future Development Strategy.
There are currently two wastewater treatment plants servicing the area – one in Ruakākā and one in Waipū.
We are undertaking significant upgrades to the wastewater system in Ruakākā, including options for plant upgrades and enhanced treated wastewater disposal options.
The document below is designed to help understand the project to expand the Ruakākā Wastewater Treatment Plant and what wastewater treatment is:
Ruakākā Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Project – Knowledge Builder(PDF, 9MB)
New wastewater treatment plant
A new wastewater treatment plant will be constructed that processes wastewater much faster than the existing plant. It will also treat the wastewater to a much higher standard.
This opens up opportunities for beneficial reuse of the treated wastewater and the biosolids, as well as reducing any risk of contamination in the environment.
Disposal options
As well as constructing a new wastewater treatment plant, investigations are underway to explore options for how we manage the treated water. These include discharge via ocean outfall and land contact.
Discharge to ocean outfall
The existing consent permits discharge into the ocean via a 3km pipeline into Bream Bay.
The treated wastewater that is discharged into the ocean is to a very high standard, meaning any risk to recreational or food use of the bay is negligible.
Following discussion with Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board, the mauri of the water will be restored through a land-contact bed before discharge.
This is based on the water springing from the earth to the light, passing through the earth and rocks, contacting with local plants and being reinvigorated before release.
The pipeline will lie under the dunes and beach to avoid any impact to beach users.
Alternative discharge to waterbody
The existing consent also requires us to explore alternative discharge options. This is done in partnership with Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board.
It would see the high-quality treated wastewater being discharged via a nature-based land-contact process to either the Ruakākā River or to another discharge-to-water option in the Marsden Point area.
Investigations have confirmed that discharge to land is not viable due to high water tables in the area and limited suitable land in the vicinity.
Land contact (recommended for both ocean outfall and for alternative discharge options) ensures that the treated wastewater being returned to the environment is also culturally aligned to that environment.
A decision on the preferred discharge option will be made once all the investigations are complete.
Interim solution 2025 / 2026
As the existing plant is nearing its capacity, we are currently unable to grant any additional connections to the wastewater treatment plant. This is constraining growth in the area.
Therefore, we are exploring various options for an interim solution to create some additional disposal capacity, which will allow consenting of new connections to start again in 2026.
These include expanding our discharge area into the Poupouwhenua Reserve adjacent to the existing wastewater treatment plant (see the site plan above).
Although parts of this area were consented in the past, this has lapsed along with the Department of Conservation concession, so we would need both a new consent and concession.
If our consent application is successful, the interim solution should be operational in approximately May / June 2026.
Advice for developers
As mentioned above, the constraints on the discharge capacity of the existing treatment plant have meant Council is not able to grant further consents that include connections to the treatment plant until the upgrade is complete or an interim solution is found.
The interim solution will free up some additional capacity until the upgrade is complete.
Our estimates for what additional capacity will be made available are:
- Likely increase in capacity: 500m3 per day.
- This equates to capacity for approximately 1,000 additional Household Unit Equivalents (HUE).
- The existing consenting pipeline includes applications for 216 HUE, which will be honoured first.
- This leaves residual further capacity of around 784 additional HUE available for consenting from when the additional capacity comes online (likely mid-2026) until the new treatment plant is operational (likely 2029 / 2030) when development limits will be lifted.
Expected high-level timeline 2025 to 2030
The preliminary design phase of works is underway with professional services contracts in place for the treatment plant expansion, the ocean outfall and the alternative discharge options.
Preliminary design scope 2025
For each of the three workstreams (treatment plant upgrade, ocean outfall and alternative discharge), consultants are evaluating options, including ecological and geotechnical investigations, suitable locations for a new treatment plant, as well as alternative discharge areas.
In addition, we are working with our hapū partners, Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board, on this project to undertake evaluation, including:
- flora and fauna impacts
- cultural impact assessment.
This preliminary design work will inform the business case, which will allow Council to make final decisions about options, such as the location of the new treatment plant and whether to use the consented ocean outfall discharge option or alternative discharge option.
We will be working with the community to understand views about the options before finalising the business case, which is expected to be ready towards the end of 2025 or early 2026.
Detailed design – 2026 to mid-2028
This phase details out the exact design of each part of the project.
Following detailed design, key documents will be produced and Council will start a competitive tender process to select the preferred construction company(s) for the project.
The ocean outfall workstream may be tendered as a design and build project.
Construction – 2027 to 2030
Construction is expected to begin in 2027.
We will work with the community to manage the impacts of construction work, which may include additional truck movements and increased dust and noise in the immediate vicinity of the works.
We expect the plant to be operational later in 2029 with sign-off in 2030.
See more details on our programme timeline:
Ruakākā Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade project timeline(PDF, 163KB)
Long Term Plan 2024-34 provides funding for this project
You can read previous Council papers about Ruakākā wastewater management here: