Waikato Regional Council staff attend the discovery of a sewage discharge into Kirikiriroa Stream in March 2017.

A gated community has been fined for discharging human waste into a Hamilton stream.

The Sanctuary, a housing development in north Hamilton, was sentenced and fined $53,550 at the Hamilton District Court this week.

Footage taken by the Waikato Regional Council shows the overflow pipe from the privately owned wastewater system was discharging into the Kirikiriroa Stream, in north Hamilton, on 13 March 2017.

The Kirikiriroa Stream flows to the Waikato River.

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The council's incident response team attended and found the pipe to be discharging about 300 litres of wastewater per hour, a statement read.

The council could not determine how long the discharge had been occurring but found the illegal discharge was the result of a series of systemic faults that were under the control of The Sanctuary's body corporate.

The discharge was reported to the body corporate, who then fixed the problem.

GOOGLE MAPS The Sanctuary is located in north Hamilton on Gordon Davies Ln.

"This prosecution serves as yet another warning to people who are responsible for effluent systems, whether human, dairy or otherwise, that the system must be fit for purpose and well maintained to ensure there are not harmful discharges into the environment," Council investigations and incident response manager Patrick Lynch said.