Omaru Creek was in urgent need of help with sewage from local residents flowing in. The local residents were putting fat and rubbish down their drains which caused massive blockage. Both public and private pipes were affected.
Taking action the Maintenance Crew cleaned out the creek. Putting these things down drains is just unacceptable since they do not break up in water. While it’s in the pipes it forms large clumps which blocks the water from going through.
Such instances are called “dry weather” overflows. The name is because not much stormwater has went through the wastewater network.
Although it’s not the Maintenance Crew's responsibility to clean out private pipes they knew that in order for the creek to be clean it had to be done. They cleaned out all the rubbish that was in the creek such as rotting mattresses, drinking cans and kids toys. Afterwards they flushed the creek with fresh clean water and tested it for over five days.
This is the condition of the creek at this current time. We are hoping that once we are done with it, it will look more cleaner and in a much better condition. We at Glen Innes School have chosen a section of the creek closest to Apirana Avenue for our project. When visiting the creek we found a few things that very much weren’t where they belong such as an aerosol can, metal bucket, moss/algae, branches, overgrown weeds, metal pipe and a strip of cardboard.
