Ruakākā Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade
- Project typeWastewater treatment plant upgrade
- Project schedule2025 to 2030
Bream Bay (including 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.
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, 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 wastewater. These include discharge via ocean outfall and land contact.
Discharge via ocean outfall
The existing consent permits discharge via a 3km pipeline into Bream Bay.
The wastewater that is discharged into the ocean will be at a very high standard meaning any risk to recreational or food use of the bay is negligible.
The pipeline will lie under the dunes and beach to avoid any impact to beach users.
Discharge via land contact
The existing consent also requires us to explore alternative discharge options with Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board, which would see the high-quality treated wastewater being discharged to the land and / or through a natural land contact process.
This ensures that the wastewater being returned to the environment is also culturally aligned to that environment.
Once investigations are complete, Council will decide which option to proceed with.
Interim solution 2025 / 2026
As the existing plant is nearing its capacity, we are unable to grant any additional consents that include connections to the wastewater treatment plant. This is constraining growth in the area.
Therefore, we are exploring interim solutions to create some additional capacity, which will allow consenting of new connections to start again in 2026.
We are considering two options (or a combination of both):
Option 1 – Expanding our discharge area into the Poupouwhenua dunes area adjacent to the existing wastewater treatment plant (see Zones 6B & 7 on the site plan above). Although these were consented in the past, this has lapsed along with the Department of Conservation concession, so would need both a new consent and concession.
Option 2 – We currently discharge to a limited area on the Rama Road block. We are considering increasing the volume discharged to this area. This additional volume would likely need variations to the existing consent.
If our consent application is successful, the interim solution should be operational in approximately May 2026.
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 discharge to land options.
Preliminary design scope 2025
For each of the three workstreams, consultants are evaluating options including ecological and geotechnical investigations, suitable locations for a new treatment plant as well as alternative land 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 and alternative land discharge option (and, if so, which location is preferred).
We will be working with the community to understand views about the options before finalising the business case, which is expected to be ready for Council to consider 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.
There may be opportunities for the community to be part of detailed design (for example, if land discharge is the preferred option, there may be an opportunity to create a walkway over the land contact area).
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: