Since the move to Level 2 Gisborne’s sewer system has come under intense pressure.

“We are experiencing a massive increase in the number of blockages across our network, so we are asking everyone to please be aware of what they are flushing,” said David Wilson, lifelines director at Council.

“In the past two days we have unfortunately experienced a 600% increase in blocked sewer pipes, and while a sample of two days is probably not indicative of the state of the system throughout the year and is statistically insignificant, the same thing happened last time we went into lockdown.

“It’s creating a massive amount of work for our teams, and if the blockages get much worse we will run out of resources to keep the pipes running.

“We are bringing in more crews in the interests of public health, but please at this critical time only flush the 3Ps.”

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