Wellington mayor takes dip to prove sea is safe after sewage leak in New Zealand

The mayor of New Zealand’s capital city took an afternoon dip on Wednesday hoping to assuage public fears after a breakdown at a local waste water treatment plant pumped raw sewage into the ocean and sprayed faecal matter on coastal homes.Millions of litres of raw sewage have flowed into the waters off Wellington’s picturesque south coast beaches since the breakdown of the Moa Point facility on February 4.Sporting swimming trunks and a rash guard shirt, Mayor Andrew Little dived face first into the surf as he sought to reassure angry residents that the water was now safe.“I do want to be clear, a risk remains, but monitoring results so far show that it is low and it’s now up to people to decide how they respond,” Little said.A breakdown at the Moa Point waste water treatment plant, seen here on Monday, has caused millions of litres of untreated sewage to be pumped into Cook Strait each day. Photo: AFPThe Wellington City Council had previously urged people to refrain from swimming or fishing due to the public health risk.The situation escalated last week when a storm hit the city, fuelling swells of up to 7 metres (23 feet) that sent contaminated sea spray flying onto homes.