Only four Tāmaki Makaurau beaches were safe to swim on Saturday after significant rainfall in the Auckland region overnight.
With temperatures getting up to 27C in the country's largest city, cooling off at one of the urban beaches was tempting - but not if you didn't do your homework first.
Many beaches were contaminated with faecal bacteria and some were still unaware.
James Carroll was about to go for a swim after a bite to eat but, luckily, came across warnings online.
"To me it's the equivalent of splashing toilet water on your face," he said. "I saw some people go out though."
Auckland's aging wastewater pipes were inundated after about 60mm of rain overnight and, when that happens, the sewage system overflows and it all ends up in the harbour.
And when the sun finally makes an appearance in Auckland, the beach is a natural attraction.
Beach ranger Marina Diamond is patrolling Ōrākei 's inner city beach this summer and educating people on the risks to health.
"You can tell them 'til the cows come home all day, 'You might get sick, please wash thoroughly before you leave our beach' and they're like, 'Why?'"
One of the major polluters is the main sewer line that collapsed in Parnell in September, creating a 13-metre-deep sinkhole.
Watercare has invested $11 billion in a bid to reduce the city's wet weather overflow but it's no quick fix - it'll take 20 years and only solve 80 percent of the problem.
In Opposition, back in 2021, National's then-environment spokesperson demanded action to be taken.
"The Labour Government are very quick to criticise farmers and rural communities about their water quality, but they seem almost reluctant to engage in terms of Auckland, urban water quality," Scott Simpson said at the time.
But in a statement to Newshub on Saturday, duty minister Nicola Willis said sewerage management was the responsibility of local government.
"Aucklanders have a right to expect they take appropriate steps to minimise and prevent these sorts of overflow events occurring."
