Creating a post-earthquake emergency sanitation plan for the Wellington region, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

The Wellington region in Aotearoa New Zealand experiences regular earthquakes and is vulnerable to potentially lengthy outages of wastewater and road networks. Recognising this, a collaborative project was conducted between scientists and Wellington’s water network management company, emergency management body and regional public health authority to create a coherent emergency sanitation plan for a major wastewater system failure. This work built on a foundation of research and a pilot study previously carried out in the region on emergency sanitation. Workshops with project participants created a plan to provide communities and responders with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The result is a plan that acknowledges constraints of provision but enables stakeholders and communities to take preparatory steps for, and respond to, sanitation outage events. The plan includes an important infographic about emergency sanitation options as well as what utility and healthcare organisations will do in the event of the plan’s activation.