After weeks of pumping raw sewage into its Napier coast outflow, the city’s wastewater treatment plant is taking its first major step towards operating at full capacity again.

The council and key officials have confirmed the plant’s milliscreen room will be able to function effectively by the end of the week, allowing for water to be treated as it would have been before the implementation of the Biological Trickling Filter (BTF) plant in 2014.

“We are confident that the milliscreens will be operational enough to be able to provide the first stage of treatment,” said Wayne Newbury-Lee, the plant’s programme director, at a media visit.

The milliscreen room’s main purpose is to filter out more of the solid waste and debris so that it can be pumped and ejected without causing blockages and further pollution.

Having the milliscreens working would “help save the outpour as much as possible”, said water planning lead Lance Groves.

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said getting the treatment centre back up and running again was the council’s “No 1 priority in terms of our own infrastructure”. She understood residents’ concerns about raw sewage being pumped into the ocean.

“This was identified very early on as the area we needed to put as much resources into as we could to get it back online and operational as quickly as we could.”

A walk through the plant revealed just how much damage was caused during the Cyclone Gabrielle flooding.

High water levels affected key electrical supplies and machinery and sent sewage and silt across the ground and surrounding area.

Teams have since worked to make sure the flow and overflow were continuing to work before full treatment systems were running again.

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Newbury-Lee said one of the key challenges was that it was a “brownfield” project, meaning teams were working in a live operational environment without the extensive planning and preparation involved in a “greenfield” project.

A typical greenfield project generally involved plans being in place about five years in advance, with contracts secured and resources already planned.

“The people here know how to operate their plant and are doing a fantastic job, but they are not experienced with rebuilding and that’s where they are really stepping up and showing great leadership,” he said.

The next stage of the project was to focus on getting the BTF plant running again to allow a full treatment process. Newbury-Lee said that, judging by how things had been tracking, it was hoped to have this done by July.

“We’re also looking at ways to how we can improve resilience of the asset.

“There are some really smart things we can do as long as we can plan and budget them in to be implemented. This is the best time to do them.”

Full operation of the plant was crucial to maintaining consent conditions and making sure environmental standards were adhered to, Groves added.

Wise could not indicate the total cost of the project but said the council would look to central government for assistance.

“We haven’t been able to quantify [the cost] as of yet. Obviously, as the work continues to be done, we will know exactly what the total cost is.

“We do have insurance but I’m sure that insurance won’t cover everything. That’s a conversation we are having with central government in terms of obtaining any funding that we might need to plug that gap.”

She also stressed that communication was a key factor in the process, with stakeholders being given daily updates on the status of the plant.

“[The information] is being fed through to our elected members and our iwi partners as well, because this is obviously of huge significance to iwi.”

Napier remains at Level 3 water restrictions, meaning residents should continue to limit their wastewater.

“Any household tasks which feed water into the wastewater system, such as washing dishes or having a shower, are where we are asking people to be mindful of their usage,” acting manager of water strategy Philip Kelsen told Hawke’s Bay Today last week.