A sewage overflow through a building at Western Springs College could mean renovations are needed to fix the damage, the principal says. Photo: RNZ / Lauren Baker
A central Auckland high school was forced to close early after a major sewage leak damaged carpets and walls.
Students of Western Springs College were sent home after their lunch break when sewage started overflowing from restrooms on the ground floor.
Principal Ivan Davis said the sewage seeped through the entrance foyer and into the carpets.
"The floor drains in the ground-floor toilets at the northern end of our main teaching building have had raw sewage pumping up through them," Davis said.
"It's flowing across the floor, into the carpet in the entrance foyer, and across into the stairwell carpeting."
An image of the overflow, sent by Ivan Davis. Photo: Supplied/ Western Springs College
A major redevelopment of the school, which is located near Auckland Zoo, was completed in 2019 and replaced most of the school's older buildings.
But Davis said parts of the new building's ground floor may need to be replaced: "The problem is the sewage has seeped underneath some of the wall divisions and into the carpet on the other side."
"This could mean some fairly serious construction and removal. We'll have to pull a few walls out perhaps."
He said the "putrid smell" convinced teachers to send students home early, and their classes would be online tomorrow.
"We're going to take a cautious approach here," Davis said.
Meanwhile, crews would be working night and day to clean the building and assess any health risks. "We're just going to go to online learning until Contaminated Site Solutions can clean up and get a certificate of approval that E. coli is not present."
Davis hoped students could return to school by Wednesday.
"We can operate the school without that bank of toilets and without access to that part of the school," he said.
A blockage in the pipes could have been caused by "the volume of sewage that 1850 kids generate," the principal said.
"And the water-saving flushing system means not enough water is flushed through."
Davis said the issue would be reported to the Ministry of Education and work would be done to ensure it did not happen again.