Sewage in the local creekReader submitted

I discovered just the other day that my little home in Sandringham has a 'combined' sewerage system. This means that storm water gets mixed with sewage and is piped away from our property together. This is fine until there is heavy rain, at which point the system overflows in to the local creek. Meola Creek, that comes out between Grey Lynn and Point Chev. It also runs through our local park, and the Roy Clements Treeway (a pleasant local walk).

The council is aware of it (of course) and there are even plans afoot to fix it. But, replacing a sewerage system is not cheap, so I'm not holding my breath. I understand that the council are requiring that any redeveloping of existing properties include the construction of 'soak pits' for the rain water to soak into the ground. In heavy rain, these still overflow into the combined system, but they improve things somewhat. Or at least they would, except redevelopment = subdividing, which means more houses on the existing system, so the problem just gets worse.

This is a great shame! The creek is lovely (in its own way) and we are doing it a great disservice.