The biggest wastewater transfer station in the city is ready for the first flushes from the existing Fitzroy community and future homes in Peacocke.

Today (25 March) the Peacocke wastewater transfer station was blessed by mana whenua and officially opened. The pumpstation has up to 1.8 million litres of storage capacity and will start pumping wastewater in May.

It’s an exciting milestone for Peacocke said Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate.

“The transfer station is the centrepiece of the local wastewater network that will ultimately cater for up to 20,000 Hamiltonians that will call Peacocke home. It’s a critical part of the infrastructure puzzle that unlocks the next stage of development in this significant greenfield area.

“We’ve taken a strategic and long-term approach by investing in the city’s wastewater network at the right time to support new homes. This ensures we can keep growing while protecting the environment and waterways like the Waikato River.”

The local Fitzroy community will be the first homes connected to the new transfer station and will reduce pressure on the network in the south-west of the city. The project also provides essential resilience to the local network in wet weather events.

“It’s important that existing communities aren’t left behind when we are planning for growth, so the Fitzroy area is really important to the early operations of this transfer station,” said Mayor Southgate.

Wastewater will be pumped north when the transfer station is fully operational and will eventually finish its journey at the Pukete Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Sven Ericksen, Project Manager for Peacocke’s wastewater projects said this is an amazing feat of engineering.

“To know that this transfer station is powerful enough to move water from Peacocke to Chartwell, over the new Waikato River bridge and through the northern pipelines, is pretty incredible.”

The northern pipelines for Peacocke were installed along Wairere Drive from Cobham Drive to Crosby Road and completed in mid-2022.

“This project has it all. It’s unlocking growth, adding resilience to our existing networks and helps manage the impacts of climate change while protecting the whenua and awa.” said Ericksen.

The finishing touches and checks are currently under way before the first homes in Fitzroy are connected to the transfer station and it is fully operational in May.

The project, by the numbers:

• 1,800m3 concrete poured
• 20km pipeline installed
• 1.5 million litre capacity buffer tank
• 358,000L emergency storage capacity underground
• Approximately 150,000 labour construction hours to build transfer station
• More than 150 staff and consultants involved in construction
• When fully operational it will fill up an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 2 hours

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