Domestic Wastewater

To help landowners and Councils as they implement and undertake their respective sewage management responsibilities, a Septic Safe Program has been introduced along with Council's On-Site Sewage Management Strategy.

Why we need Septic Safe

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,

Septic Safe is a statewide partnership between the NSW Government and local councils to address this issue. Septic Safe provides effective education, support and supervision to landowners, so that their systems operate in accordance with the health and environmental performance standards, and to monitor and manage the cumulative impact of sewage pollution in and across local government areas.

On-Site Sewage Management

The On-Site Sewage Management (OSSM) Strategy 2015 has been developed to ensure changes in legislation and technology are accounted for and aims to sustain high levels of on-site sewage management system performance in the Upper Hunter LGA.  The Strategy aims to provide an approach to OSSM through sustainability, effective management control and education.  It provides an integrated approach to OSSM within a self regulating framework of community education, local support services and environmental and public health protection. 

This Strategy applies to all rezoning and development applications under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and Section 68 applications under the Local Government Act 1993.

Contact Details

Senior Compliance Officer
Ph:  6540 1137
Fax:  6545 2671
council@upperhunter.nsw.gov.au

Downloads

• Septic Safe (PDF - 987KB)
• On-Site Sewage Management Strategy (PDF-4221KB)