Section 68 of the Local Government Act 1993 requires approval to be sought from a Local Government Authority for the discharge of liquid waste to the sewer. The New South Wales Office of Water (NOW) is the state government body responsible for overseeing trade waste approvals under the ACT. The approval documentation sets out the conditions under which Lithgow City Council accepts discharge of liquid trade waste to sewer.

Lithgow City Council’s Liquid Trade Waste Approvals policy was adopted in 2005. This policy concentrates on source control to ensure that all businesses adequately pre-treat their wastewater onsite, before discharge to the sewerage system.

The provision of such a policy is mandatory to enable Council to meet the requirements of the Best Practice Management of Water Supply and Sewerage Guidelines, May 2004. This is critical as for Council to be eligible for subsidy under the Country Towns Water & Sewerage supply schemes (for funding upgrades of the Lithgow LGA sewerage treatment plants). Council was required to comply with the Department of Water & Energy’s Best Practice Management Guidelines including adopting an implementation of a Liquid trade Waste Policy.

The discharge of liquid trade waste places additional load on the sewerage system. Lithgow City Council has established a user pays charging policy for this discharge. Trade Waste volumes are expressed as a percentage of fresh water consumption. This percentage (trade waste discharge factor) will be determined following an onsite assessment. 

Please check Council’s Fees and Charges for latest costs.

Trade Waste usage charge For commercial premises that have installed and maintained appropriate pre-treatment facilities will be required to pay the following: Trade Waste Usage Charge ($) = volume of liquid trade waste discharged to sewer x $1.60 per kilolitre For commercial premises that have not installed and maintained appropriate pre-treatment facilities will be required to pay the following: Trade waste Usage Charge ($) = Volume of liquid trade waste discharged to sewer x $17.00 per kilolitre

Businesses need to ensure that the appropriate information is provided with their application form. Council’s trade waste officer is in the process of auditing local properties and discussing trade waste issues.

Lithgow’s sewerage system, like most town and city systems, was designed to handle domestic wastewater. The unpredictable nature of liquid trade waste has a significant impact on Lithgow’s sewerage system and its associated costs. It can also impact on Council’s Environment Protection Licence with the Department of Environment & Climate Change. The ‘source control’ approach adopted by Council ensures the quality of discharge remains within the capabilities of the sewerage system and sewerage treatment plant to transport and treat liquid trade. Lithgow City Council encourages people to think before they put things down the sink. In other words, the sewerage system should not be treated as a rubbish bin. Instead it should be considered as a part of a total system which goes beyond the drain.

Council has adopted a two part tariff system which includes both access and usage charges. As trade waste is not domestic waste, it costs Council more to treat waste to an acceptable level prior to its discharge into the environment. In a user pays system, this cost needs to be recouped from the trade waste dischargers, not residents.

A sewer usage charge is levied for utilizing the Council’s sewerage system for the disposal of domestic waste. Council’s trade waste charges are set taking into account the amount already paid.

This is a minimum pre-treatment requirement of the NSW Office of Water. Council is unable to provide an exemption from this requirement.