Permanent pipe fix needed to safeguard Castor Bay

Swimming was declared off limits at Castor Bay Beach heading into the Easter break, although without signage some beachgoers were unaware of the warning.

The beach was placed under a black flag alert for 48 hours on the Safeswim website last week after a temporary overland pipe failed. This was installed to contain wastewater flows and bypass where a public pipe on Braemar Rd was damaged in a landslide caused by flooding in January.

A Watercare spokesperson explained: “This temporary set-up failed and caused an overflow, which prompted the black flag on Safeswim.”

After Watercare crews fixed the overflow issue late on Thursday the black flag warning was kept in place until Good Friday afternoon to guard against any residual contamination, the spokesperson said. Water-quality testing had indicated a low level of ammonia close to the pipe break.

The alert was then changed to a red flag, which still means avoid swimming. After getting a green all clear on Saturday on Monday it was briefly back up to red after rain.

Watercare said the bypass set-up was being inspected daily by contractors to guard against further system failures.

On Tuesday morning a black flag “no swim” warning was in place on the Safeswim website for the Wairau Outlet and Milford Beach.