Donald Street Pump Station upgrade, Featherston

Project delivered - Donald Street Wastewater Pump Station put into service 

Good news - on Friday 22 September 2023, we switched on the Donald Street Wastewater Pump Station, marking a big milestone on an important project for Featherston’s residents.

The new pump station is more efficient, powerful and brings greater storage resilience. It’ll significantly reduce wastewater overflows in the eastern part of town.

Well done to our project team and panel whānau team on providing great value for money for the Featherston community.

We'll share more on this project soon - watch this space.

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Work on the Donald Street Wastewater Pump Station Upgrade began in May 2023. The site is located along Revans Street (State Highway 53), where it intersects with Waite and Donald Streets. 

The project focuses on two key aspects:

1. Upgrade of the Pump Station itself with provision for underground temporary storage

2. Renewal of the main wastewater pipe that connects the Pump station to the wastewater gravity mains (known as a ‘rising main’).

Hours of work will be 7:30am-5:30pm, Monday - Friday.

Due to the location of the existing infrastructure, this work will cause some disruption to State Highway 53 and Donald Street with traffic management and detours in place until the work is completed.

We understand this will cause disruption to businesses and residents and apologise in advance for any inconvenience this will cause.

We are working with the community to discuss questions or concerns and to work to mitigate these as best we can.

What’s happening

Wellington Water, on behalf of South Wairarapa District Council, is upgrading the wastewater pump station located at the intersection of Donald Street and Revans Street (State Highway 53) in Paetūmōkai – Featherston.

Why an upgrade is required

The current wastewater pump station is in need of replacement due to its age, limited output, and capacity, as well as its risk of failure during demanding weather events i.e. short periods of intense, high rainfall.

Upgrade benefits:

• Increased pump station capacity, helping move wastewater away from the eastern side of Paetūmōkai more efficiently.
• Reduced occurrence of wastewater overflows, minimising any potential public health and environmental risks while improving the performance of the wastewater network.

What the work involves

The construction of a new pump station and emergency storage tank, relocating it from under State Highway 53 to a council berm on Donald Street, pipe replacement work diverting the wastewater to and from the new pump station, and the decommissioning of old assets.

This work requires large excavations, and due to the high groundwater table in Featherston - Paetūmōkai, the excavations will require dewatering to allow the construction to take place. The impacts of this dewatering have been investigated, with the findings showing the groundwater being of very high quality, and the effects on the surrounding water bodies to be negligible. The effects of dewatering will be continually monitored throughout the project.

When is this happening:

Work began in May 2023, and is expected to be completed by around September 2023.