An update on Wellington Water’s city projects

The team at Wellington Water is making significant progress in upgrading our capital's water infrastructure to ensure resilience and support future growth. Check out the latest updates on the city’s biggest water projects.

image of pipe in the ground — Wellington Water connecting the pipes laid using trenchless technology on Taranaki Street.

CBD wastewater programme

The Wellington central city's Wastewater Programme will improve the capacity, resilience, and hydraulics of the CBD wastewater network. This programme of works will accommodate growth and minimise impacts on the environment by reducing the likelihood of wastewater overflows.

The Taranaki Street rising main project is progressing swiftly and is expected to be completed four months ahead of schedule. The new pump station will move wastewater from a gravity pipe (no pressure) and pressurise it so that it can travel to the main pipe (the interceptor) and then to the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The pipes were installed without digging up the road. This was critical in minimising the impact for traffic, residents and businesses in a very busy part of the CBD. As well as saving commuter time, not digging up the road saved 4,200 tonnes of contaminated waste from the landfill!

The Inglewood Place site has now been handed over to the Taranaki Street rising main project for connection to the new pump station and to Council’s new toilet block project. These projects are working together to prevent rework in Inglewood Place. Works are expected to be completed by January 2025.

The Wakefield Street rising main project, between Tory Street and Kent Terrace connects the new Taranaki Street rising main to the existing network. Construction is expected to start ahead of schedule by October 2024. The project team at Wellington Water will be aligning the upcoming works on Wakefield Street and Victoria Street to minimise the impact on public and local businesses.

Image of Wellington Water workers connecting the pipes — Wellington Water team working on the pipes

Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant refurbishment

The Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant recently underwent renewals and refurbishment of its inlet pump station and clarifiers. Refurbishment and bearing replacement work on Clarifier #2, one of the settling tanks that removes solids from our wastewater, was completed on 24 July 2024. These works returned the plant to its full treatment capacity.

Leak on wellington street — A recent leak on Jervois Quay: Over 250 leaks in the city were fixed by Wellington Water in July.

Other updates

Decline in water demand and leak repairs
For the first time since October 2020, water demand in Wellington's metropolitan region is on the decline. This is attributed to the efforts by residents and businesses to conserve water during the peak summer months, and increased investment in leak repairs in the second half of the 2023/24 financial year.

The Council's increased operational funding has positively impacted the network. Over 566 leaks have been fixed in Wellington City since 1 July.

Pressure Management Pilot Project
The Pressure Management Pilot Project, which recently took place in Brooklyn, Johnsonville and Melrose, has shown promising results. The pilot involved installing pressure-reducing valves in parts of the water network. Modelling from the project shows pressure management within these areas may provide water savings of up to 300,000 litres per day and reduce the number of new leaks by as many as 40 per year, as well as extending the expected service life of the pipework.

Leakage reduction results
Brooklyn: Water leakage reduced by 51,000 litres per day, benefiting 533 homes.
Johnsonville: Water leakage reduced by 58,000 litres per day, benefiting 766 homes.
Melrose: Water leakage reduced by 6,000 litres per day, benefiting 242 homes.