Smoke-Testing of Inglewood Sewerage

Smoke may be seen wafting out of some Inglewood homes from the end of this week – but it’s all in the name of sewerage management.

For a week from this Friday (13 July), the sewerage network in a block bounded by Rimu, Rata, Brown and Humphries streets will have non-toxic smoke blown into it to check for any illegal connections to stormwater pipes.

Acting Manager Water and Wastes Graeme Pool says the smoke will also travel up sewer laterals to homes, where it will exit the buildings’ external vent pipes.

“We’ll be testing the sewer pipes by sections, and making a letter-drop to each home the day before testing in their area is done,” he says.

“People shouldn’t be concerned if they see smoke coming out the vent pipe of their house.”

The Council’s flow measurements have recorded an unusually high volume of fluid in the sewerage network in this area of Inglewood, especially after rainfall, indicating that stormwater is entering the sewer pipes.

The additional volume places a greater load on the town’s sewage treatment process.

“The first step in reducing that flow is to find where, if any, stormwater connections to the sewer pipes are, which the smoke test will help us identify,” says Mr Pool.

The project is weather-dependent. Residents may continue to flush their toilets as usual during the testing.