A burst wastewater main has prompted warnings not to swim in the Porirua Harbour and for motorists to take care on nearby State Highway 1.
The pipe burst at 8am on Saturday, Wellington Water said.
"This has caused wastewater to overflow across SH1 and into the Paremata Harbour," said manager of customer planning Sam Lister, using another name for the harbour, located in the city's northeast.
"State Highway 1 is currently down to one lane northbound and people should expect delays."
Nine wastewater trucks are on location helping to reduce the overflow, Lister said, and urgent repairs are planned.
Once the overflow has stopped, a no-swimming notice will be in place for 48 hours.
"With the heavy rainfall likely to cause more overflows, we're also asking residents in Whitby, Paremata, Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay, and in the northern parts of Aotea to minimise water use as much as possible," said Lister.
The mishap comes just days after the Government announced a $136 million plan to replace sewerage, storm water and water storage infrastructure, RNZ reported. The spending will come out of the Government's Housing Acceleration Fund, creating infrastructure for about 2000 new houses.
Wellington is currently being hit hard by severe weather that's affecting much of the country. The council said on Saturday morning it had received multiple reports of flooding on roads and into shops.
