TasWater confirms no environment infringement notices for sewerage plant non-compliance

TasWater has confirmed it has not received a single Environment Infringement Notice relating to discharges or sewer spills for the past two years.
Chief Executive Mike Brewster said the two issues mentioned at yesterday’s Legislative Council Select Committee hearing by Environment Protection Authority Director Wes Ford related to minor breaches of construction permits.
“One involved a management plan not being completed for works undertaken, and the second because a suitable barrier was not placed around a site so that construction waste would not enter the waterway,” Mr Brewster said.
“While these were both minor issues, TasWater has taken steps to ensure similar issues do not occur in the future.”
Mr Brewster said while not all TasWater sewage treatment plants were fully compliant, the noncompliance was not widespread and the situation needed to be viewed in the correct context.
“For example, more than 400 tests can be done on one plant in a year and if any one of those test fail, the plant is deemed non-compliant. However, this metric is considered to be an unreliable indicator of performance, so is not reported nationally.
“The best measure of environmental compliance is to base it on the total volume of sewerage passing through TasWater’s systems in a given period.
“This indicates our progress in moving towards better environmental outcomes \ is making strong and steady improvement, with compliance now standing at 86 per cent.
“TasWater is currently addressing the State’s water and sewerage deficiencies by executing its fully funded plan in a considered and responsible manner, balancing the needs of a diverse range of stakeholders and agreed to by its regulators. “Indeed, we have worked constructively with the EPA to put a Memorandum of Understanding in place which sets out the path to compliance We also continue to enjoy a constructive relationship with the EPA and are committed to delivering on our obligations under the MOU.
“While we accept that not everything has gone exactly to plan and at times this has caused some frustration for the EPA it must be recognised that much has also been achieved.
Over the past three years, effluent compliance has increased from 81.4 per cent to 86 per cent, recycled water compliance has improved from 69 per cent to 79 per cent, sewerage odour complaints have reduced by 50 per cent, beneficial use of bio-solids has increased from 56 per cent to 99.8 per cent and the number of dry weather sewage spills has been reduced by over 50 per cent.”
Mr Brewster said TasWater was the first to acknowledge that much work remained to be undertaken to upgrade Tasmania’s sewerage infrastructure, but there was no crisis and TasWater was making steady progress, with an approved, comprehensive and fully-funded plan already underway.
TasWater