Septic tank cleaners face consent problems

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 538, 12 July 1994, Page 5

Septic tank cleaners face consent problems

Turoa Ski Resort and a commercial septic tank cleaner may soon find themselves in conflict with the council over the Resource Management Act (RMA). The council has found that dumping material from septic tanks in the way it is done at present contravenes the RMA. Ruapehu District Council engineer Peter Jackson told the Waimarino Community Board last week that the extra material put into the settling ponds at Raetihi and Ohakune could overload them, with too much biochemical oxygen demand,chemicaloxygendemand and'settleable' solids. This could lead to the resulting pond effluent to "deviate from the Council' s discharge consent conditions". The contractors can't provide their own disposal facilities, the board was told. Mr Jackson said the annual plan provided for an investigation into septage disposal and the board agreed that the viability of installing a septage facility should be assessed. Some sort of user-pays system was suggested. The commercial operator is John Dobson who uses the Raetihi ponds. Mr Jackson said his method of disposal

used now is not yet causing problems. Mr Dobson set up his disposal system with the agreement of the Raetihi Borough Council. Turoa Ski Resort had used the Ohakune ponds but is now discharging through the reticulation system, according to Mr Jackson. He said this practice was "not good". Turoa has said they are not now disposing of "septage" but now dispose of "mountain grey water" and "light sewerage" from the ski field. Mr Jackson said Turoa' s argument was just semantics. He told the board Turoa' s practice could "give rise to potential sewer blockages, potential overloading of the oxidation ponds and the resulting deviation from the Resource Consent conditions, and shorten the life of the ponds owing to the high solids loading. There was clearly a need for a septage disposal facility, said Mr Jackson, because: the inappropriate disposal of septage can transmit disease; because of the requirements of the RMA; and because of the problems with Turoa' s disposal methods as outlined above.