Cars ruined as sewage floods street

A knee-deep sewage spill in Palmerston North has ruined two cars and left a city family wondering why nobody was warned to stay away from the river that flowed down their street.

Escort Grove resident Judith Deane-Freeman said the spill was higher than her gumboots and it went inside her two Toyotas parked on the roadside.

"I waded out to retrieve my cars. The water was lapping into them," she said.

Ms Deane-Freeman was surprised when her cars were towed away and written off by her insurance company on Tuesday, just hours after the spill, which was caused by a Palmerston North wastewater treatment plant malfunction.

The untreated sewage burst out of a manhole at Totara Rd and poured down Escort Grove for about 80 metres. By yesterday, it had all been cleaned up.

Ms Deane-Freeman hopes Palmerston North City Council will pay the insurance excess on her vehicles.

One of the cars was sometimes used to transport her intellectually-disabled daughter, who has a wheelchair.

The other car was used by another daughter who has a 22-month-old son.

She wasn't sure if it was safe to still use a car seat that was in that vehicle.

Ms Deane-Freeman estimated up to 20 vehicles drove through the water and sewage. A motorcyclist also rode through it, she said.

Palmerston North City Council water and waste services manager Chris Pepper said the sewage spill was caused by a mechanical fault at the city's wastewater treatment plant.

"Not all the wastewater could get into the treatment plant."

The inlet gate became stuck when the electric motor burnt itself out, forcing the wastewater to breach the nearest manhole, he said.

A manual override had now been installed to enable staff to control the gate if the motor failed again, he said.

Ms Deane-Freeman said the council's communication to residents about the spill was low-key.

She didn't realise it was sewage till she talked to one of the workers at the site.

"I had to find out for myself."

Mr Pepper said the fault at the plant occurred about 5.30am and staff worked quickly to fix it.

The spill was in a "reasonably localised area".

It came after high rainfall on Monday night, resulting in higher-than-normal flows in the system.

Mr Pepper said if residents were still concerned, they should contact him at the city council.

- © Fairfax NZ News