A quality outcome for Piha - Wastewater treatment and disposal at one of New Zealand's premiere tourist destinations

Piha is situated on the West Coast of the North Island, approximately 28 kilometres west of Auckland City. As one of New Zealand’s most famous surf beaches, it is a regular venue for national and international surfing competitions. The beaches, rock pools, bush tracks, and dramatic scenery make Piha one of Auckland’s most popular visitor destinations. Piha Beach experiences large fluctuations in visitor numbers, typical of semi-remote but popular beaches, with estimated peaks of 8,000 to 15,000 visitors usually coinciding with summer public holidays and school holidays. To meet this demand, Auckland Council provides a number of visitor and community facilities ranging from public toilets, reserves, campgrounds, car parks, play grounds, and public halls. Due to its rural location, Piha is unreticulated for both drinking water and sewerage infrastructure. The Council owned treatment plant that catered for the Domain public toilets and campground was at the end of its economic life, and was undersized to meet the increased peak hydraulic flows experienced during the summer months. For a number of years the Council managed summer peak flows by pumping approximately 500,000 litres from the system by vacuum tanker. The paper covers wastewater treatment and disposal, resource consenting, engineering design, installation and plant performance.