Watercare officially opened the new Snells Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant yesterday, a key step in its $450 million programme to transform wastewater services for Warkworth and the Snells/Algies area.

The new facility is already handling more than half of Warkworth’s wastewater, with a pump station at Lucy Moore Memorial Park, a five-kilometre pipeline, and a new ocean outfall working together to keep the system running.

By October, all of Warkworth’s flows will be treated here.

Mayor Wayne Brown said the plant is designed to support growth over the next 35 years, with capacity for thousands more residents and future upgrades built into its design.

He called it a big win for the environment, cutting wet-weather overflows and improving the health of the Mahurangi River and nearby marine ecosystems.

Watercare chief executive Jamie Sinclair said the project marks a new standard.

The improved technology allows the older Warkworth and Snells Beach plants to be decommissioned, ending discharges to the Mahurangi River.

Treated water will now go 800 metres out to sea at Martin’s Bay.

For locals, this means safer waterways and more reliable services in our growing northern towns.

With summer coming, cleaner rivers and beaches are something many locals will notice and appreciate.

Commissioning continues through October, with the old plants set to close soon after.

A final pipeline project, starting next year, will further reduce overflows and support growth in north Warkworth.

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