A failure at the Moa Point sewage treatment plant on the capital's south coast on February 4 has been spilling untreated sewage also into Cook Strait linking the North and South Islands.
Strong winds and severe weather on Monday have made the problem worse, forcing locals to clean fecal spray off their homes, fearing a public health hazard.
"It's been an absolute s*** show," resident Roger Young said.
"Sorry about the pun, but it's been disgusting."
Young has lived in Houghton Bay for decades. His home is 100 metres back from the shore and was still tainted by this week's storm.
"The swell was seven metres rolling in on Monday morning, and the sea foam is carrying right across Houghton Bay, Princess Bay, Lyall Bay, probably Island Bay as well, and probably contaminated faeces all the way through it."
He said his windows were filthy with what's likely to be more than just salt and sand.
Island Bay resident Chris owns a house on the Esplanade. It was once cream, but despite three attempts with the hose, a brown smear remains.
"It's slimy grime. When you run your finger along it, you get these brown marks of this residue that's on there and that's certainly not from salt."
So what is it?
"Poo", he replied.
"It's residue from all that sewage that's floating up and down the coast.
"I'm going to have to fully scaffold the house and wash it down. It's now a health hazard to my tenants. It's totally unacceptable that we've got to put up with this."
"The other day, when the Monday storm happened... we couldn't even see out of the windows.
"So we had to do that as soon as we got here in the morning and clean them off. We're having to do it like at least every second day. It's disgusting."
Young is furious that in the midst of it all, Wellington Water chair Nick Leggett has legged it and resigned on February 15, leaving apologies unsaid.
"How can this happen in 2026? And how can we have the head of Wellington Water, Nick Leggett, just resign and think he's just going to walk away from this?
"People need to be held accountable and heads need to roll, seriously."
Young said his son broke down crying because he couldn't use the water for a couple of months.
"I just started crying, too. I'm going holy hell, this is our backyard and this has happened."
Chris said he would be billing Wellington Water for his time washing the houses if the toxic sea spray continues to plague the coast.
The alternative was a $900 quote to have it professionally washed.
"Perhaps the chief executive might want to get out of his comfortable chair and come and have a look at what's really happening around the district," he said.
"I'm absolutely pissed off."
Wellington Water was still unsure what caused the Moa Point failure and how long the plant would be out of action.
It was not conducting sampling on private properties, but is instead conducting sampling in the sea around Wellington's south coast to understand the impacts of the Moa Point discharge on the area.
It was the National Public Health Service's role to assess whether any public-health risks arise from environmental conditions and to provide health advice where required.
