Raglan wastewater discharge consent

A long list of treatment and discharge options has been narrowed down through technical assessment and community input.

Council, alongside planning, environmental, and engineering specialists, is now evaluating these options to identify a preferred long-term solution, known as the best practical option.

This work includes consideration of:

• land suitability for irrigation
• marine modelling
• public health and community wellbeing
• freshwater and marine ecology
• cultural impacts
• cost and affordability

Local iwi, the wider Raglan community and other stakeholders have expressed a strong preference for a discharge-to-land solution, which has been under investigation for several years.

Since 2019, Council has worked with Watercare, its waters services delivery partner, to assess a wider range of treatment and discharge alternatives. This includes options that combine reclaimed water reuse for summer irrigation with a different discharge approach during winter, as well as more advanced treatment technologies that could replace the existing oxidation ponds.

Because of the engineering, environmental, cultural, and financial complexity involved, this work has taken time. Each option must be carefully assessed to understand its environmental effects, cultural implications, technical feasibility, and affordability.

Treated water is discharged on the outgoing tide. To check outgoing tide times, visit the NIWA tide timetable.

Information about the Raglan Wastewater Treatment Plant is available in the wastewater section of our website.

Toxoplasmosis can pose a risk to Hector’s and Maaui dolphins when cat faeces enter waterways and the marine environment.

Please do not flush kitty litter or cat droppings down the toilet. Dispose of them in your rubbish bin or bury them in the garden.

For more information, read the Department of Conservation information sheet on toxoplasmosis risk to Hector’s and Māui dolphins.