Sewage embarrassment for Wellington

Thousands of Wellington residents and businesses were asked not to use their toilets on Tuesday after an embarrassing sewage leak in the CBD.

In an all-too-common occurrence in New Zealand's capital city, putrid wastewater leaked onto Victoria Street on Monday afternoon after a break in an underground pipe.

The break produced road closures, pedestrian detours and a message to downtown inhabitants - don't flush.

Wellington suffers from severe wastewater issues, with outdated infrastructure and huge costs in replacing the systems in the earthquake-prone city.

Wellington's harbour, one of the most beautiful in New Zealand, is regularly closed to swimmers due to wastewater runoff.

The latest troublesome pipe, which the NZ Herald reports was an "300mm diameter cast iron pipe ... built in the early 1900s" was given a temporary fix later on Tuesday.

A Wellington Water executive said after a century of service, the pipe was already planned for replacement in the next two to three years.

The repair to Monday's break, including pumping out wastewater, will take three days.