General
Small domestic sewage management facilities or on-site sewage management
systems include all types of human waste storage facilities. They
include pump-out systems, sewage ejection units, septic tanks, aerated
wastewater treatment systems, composting toilets, pit toilets, wastewater
filtration systems, effluent soak-away trenches, mounds and irrigation
areas, greywater treatment systems, greywater application systems
and domestic grease traps.
Failing on-site sewage management systems release dangerous levels
of sewage pollution to the environment. Sewage pollution causes
contamination of water, which can spread disease and lead to environmental
degradation. There are approximately 300,000 on-site sewage management
systems across NSW and the cumulative impact of effluent, sometimes
from thousands of systems, is a critical problem. Sewage pollution
is evident in metropolitan, suburban and rural residential areas,
in unsewered rural villages and in environmentally sensitive areas,
especially near waterways and in drinking water catchments.
Protocol
Greater Taree Onsite Water Quality Monitoring Program
http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_InformationIndex.asp?areaindex=SEPTIC&index=156
Example Protocol: Onsite Sewage
Costs
One full time staff member plus motor vehicle per 1,000 onsite
systems
Case studies
Various Local Government Case Studies (Septic Safe Grant Funded)
http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_InformationIndex.asp?areaindex=SEPTIC&index=156
Hornsby Onsite Case Study
Organisation contacts
NSW Department of Local Government
Septic Safe Program
http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_InformationIndex.asp?areaindex=SEPTIC&index=150
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