Looking to wastewater’s future

Published on 30 October 2023

Glenelg Shire Council is a large and spread-out local government authority and among the challenges are keeping track of what’s going on around that area.

Wastewater systems in the Shire are no exception, but Council has taken major steps to ensure these are fit for purpose in the future.

Council is one year into its latest Domestic Wastewater Management Plan and a large focus of that is inspecting septic systems in various localities around the Shire.

The idea is to take a snapshot of those areas in preparation for future efforts – collecting data to take advantage of funding opportunities in future and also becoming aware of any major issues.

Nelson was first on the list – the town’s closeness to the Glenelg River, the preponderance of small blocks and the high risk potential have seen Council focus its initial efforts there.

Forty eight systems in Nelson have been inspected – the focus was looking at whether they presented any risk to the public or the environment, and assessing what could be done.

Of those 48 systems, 37 were found to have a variety of issues, from minor ones to two totally failed systems.

The most common issues were that the systems were inaccessible for maintenance or were too close to property boundaries or bores.

Nelson has many groundwater bores and during their inspections Council officers also found many that weren’t previously mapped, giving them a much better idea of the resource.

The owner of each non-compliant property was issued with a letter outlining what was wrong and what they needed to do, and Council will follow up with those property owners where appropriate.

But for the most part the inspection program is an exercise in education, discussing the issues with property owners.

Council hopes by collecting higher-quality data it will be able to lobby the Victorian Government or water authorities for any funding (such as grants) that becomes available for projects in future.

Merino, Dartmoor and Cape Bridgewater are other areas that have been earmarked for future inspection programs.

But it’s not just private properties that Council has been inspecting – all Council owned or managed septic systems were also inspected.

Some issues were found with those systems and works are in place to repair and maintain them.

Glenelg Shire Mayor Scott Martin said Council was legally obliged to have a Domestic Wastewater Management Plan and to review it every five years.

“There is an expectation with it that we will have a proactive approach to the management of domestic wastewater so when there’s reports or complaints or issues we can go out and see what’s happening,” Cr Martin said.

“We can identify current and emerging issues and provide actions to address those issues.”

Picture caption: Glenelg Shire Council has inspected its own septic systems as part of the Domestic Wastewater Management Plan.