A Christchurch school has reopened after heavy rains this week flooded their sewerage system, sending human faeces pouring out.
Waimairi School was closed for three days following the event for every surface to be washed with a heavy disinfectant.
But the school hall will remain closed for the foreseeable future as a "pool of sewage" swims underneath it.
"Yeah, thousands of litres, it all disappeared down that vent and it hasn't come out anywhere else," principal Mike Anderson told 1News.
The building may now require expensive remediation work.
"It needs to be assessed properly, I'd just be guessing, but it won't be cheap," Anderson said.
Parents were disappointed this was able to happen, with Christchurch City Council saying the incident was due to a blockage near the school and the combination of blocked pipes and 110mL of rain in two days causing the overflow.
"No system is immune to overflow when you have blockages, and we did have a blockage," said councillor Helen Beaumont.
"We're very sorry that it happened, and we'll work closely with the school to ensure it doesn't happen again."
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