A property at the end of the shared driveway in Papatoetoe, south Auckland, has a layer of human waste and toilet paper in front of it after the heavy rain that hit the region last weekend.

Properties in Auckland were left covered in human waste and toilet paper following the weekend's heavy rain.

Several houses down a shared driveway in Great South Rd, Papatoetoe, were surrounded by excrement on Monday.

Contractors were cleaning up the site when Stuff visited on Monday afternoon.

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Satyia Nand​, who built several of the homes and manages their maintenance, says he wants Watercare to investigate and fix the problem, rather than clean it up each time.

The properties sometimes get covered in human waste even when it hasn't rained, he says.

Supplied A large pool of human excrement and toilet paper covered the ground outside the homes after the heavy rainfall.

"They clean and fumigate it instead of fixing it. The drains get blocked down the road somewhere."

Nand says the mess flows out of a manhole located between two of the homes.

Pieces of toilet paper were stuck to the top of the manhole and the ground around it.

Nand says one of the home's backyards was covered in human waste after the rain.

A property being used for storage at the end of the driveway has a pool of excrement in front of it.

"There are people living here," Nand says. "They're paying rent. Nobody should live like this."

Chris Harrowell Pieces of toilet paper are stuck to a manhole located between two of the houses in the shared driveway as well as on the ground around it.

He says he suspects the roots from large trees in the area may be blocking the system, causing it to backflow.

Watercare spokeswoman Maxine Clayton says four overflows have happened at the properties in Great South Rd in the past four years during "heavy rain events, when stormwater has entered and overwhelmed the wastewater network".

"We are … very concerned to hear this has happened [again recently].

Chris Harrowell Contractors were at the homes on Monday afternoon to clean and disinfect the area.

"Watercare has sent a crew to clean and thoroughly disinfect the outside areas."

Clayton says the organisation's staff will investigate the surrounding wastewater network to find out where and how stormwater is illegally entering the system.

"A nearby stream may be the cause and will be included in the investigations."

She says tree roots are a "major issue". They cause terrible damage to both water and wastewater pipes across Auckland, she says.

"The … investigations should tell us if they're responsible for the damage in this case.

"If so, we'll send in a team with a special root-cutting machine.

"If tree roots aren't the cause, we'll keep going until we find out how stormwater is illegally entering the wastewater system."

Coastal communities in east Auckland were also affected by the heavy rain.

Cockle Bay resident Barry Wood says the suburb's beach had six manholes overflowing with sewerage on July 15.

One of them, located at a footbridge near a children's playground, was overflowing for four to five hours, he estimated.

"It's 100 per cent sewage. I've never seen toilet paper come out of a stormwater pipe."

Wood says he tried to contact Auckland Council about the issue last Sunday, but after a 40-minute wait his call was still unanswered.

He says it's a problem locals have faced in the past, but the council's only addressed the problem once before.

"A few years ago, when it overflowed they came and put signs up in the beach. That was in the summer.

"The council haven't put any signs up since that first instance, which was several years ago and it's probably overflowed three or four times since then."

He says although he isn't a stormwater or sewer expert, it's evident the system is unable to cope with the ingress of stormwater.

"Whether that's getting into people having illegal connections into the sewer system or stormwater or whether it's other ways of the stormwater getting into the sewerage system. It's up to them to investigate and sort that one out."

Wood says he saw about 40 people out collecting cockles at the beach the next day.

"If you read the documentation on collecting shellfish, it states that after pollution/sewerage, you shouldn't collect for four weeks or something and that you shouldn't collect after heavy rain."

Wood says he unsuccessfully attempted to warn the cockle collectors.

Clayton says manholes at Cockle Bay beach did overflow last weekend when stormwater "overwhelmed" the wastewater system.

The council's rain gauge in Beachlands recorded 68 millimetres of rain on the weekend, while the one in Redoubt Rd, Manukau, received 82.5mm, she says.

"Cockle Bay will also be added to Watercare's inflow and infiltration programme, in which staff look for illegal downpipe connections and non-complant gully traps, which can contribute to massive amounts of stormwater from roofs entering and engulfing the wastewater network.

"A long-term solution will be implemented within the next two years, when a new rising main [pipe] will be created.

"The new main will allow wastewater flows pumped from the Cockle Bay and Mellons Bay areas to be increased."