Taupo District Council is about to ramp up the maintenance of its wastewater network in an effort to stop sewer overflows into the lake.
At Tuesday's council meeting, an extra $395,000 was unanimously approved to carry out more sewer inspections and cleaning before June, following a number of wastewater spills in the past year.
The community will also be asked for feedback on an increased maintenance programme in future years as part of the council's next Long-term Plan when consultation opens on March 12.
Water and wastewater asset manager Mike Cordell said the most common cause of overflows was a combination of fat, rags, wet wipes, other sanitary items and tree roots.
"When a sewer becomes blocked and overflows it will often spill on to the road and into the stormwater network. In many cases, the stormwater network ultimately discharges to the lake," he said.
"We want to ramp up our inspections and cleaning in areas we believe may be the highest risk and we want to do it now."
Downer is undertaking the initial inspection work, with the contract for the cleaning let to Hydrotech. The additional work will be focussed on the Taupō township and Acacia Bay areas and is expected to start immediately.