Far North District Council is being urged to find an alternative to discharging sewage into the Hokianga harbour.
The council has received consent to discharge 685 cubic metres of effluent through a single pipeline into the harbour from the Omapere/ Opononi wastewater treatment plant.
Alan Hessell, who lives about 100 metres from the harbour at Pakanae says he's disappointed with the state of the water.
He says it's clouded and it smells like a leaking septic tank. He believes seafood from the harbour is also unsafe to eat.
Mr Hessell says the council needs to consider land-based methods where waste is turned into compost and the liquid evaporated.
However, the district council says it believe this method is too expensive to consider.
