Water NZ has put together these really helpful guides around domestic onsite wastewater systems. They’re short and easy to read and they cover:
Why you really do need to care for your onsite wastewater system
Here’s how they describe it: “Domestic wastewater is a messy, unpleasant, hazardous and complex medium. The bulk of it is water, but it also includes faecal matter, urine, infectious organisms (pathogens), fats, oils, greases, hair, lint, dirt, soap suds, cleaning agents, residual pharmaceuticals, a range of organic matter, and a whole variety of material people shouldn’t flush down the drain and toilet bowl.”
(Hint: Any discharge is hazardous and therefore a risk for people, animals and the environment, plus contamination can get expensive to fix…)
The types of wastewater systems
The basics you should be doing to look after your wastewater system, to ensure you don’t end up with harmful discharge
Signs that your system is failing – these are really helpful:
- a foul, rotten-egg smell around your septic tank or land application area
- your tank overflows, perhaps through the vent
- the land around it is ponding, soggy and odorous
- the filter(s) are blocking up too frequently
- your drains and toilets are running slowly or they overflow
- there is a gurgling noise when the bath plug is pulled
- there is overflowing at the gully trap or tank mushroom
- power consumption is high
- an alarm is activated.
The standards, rules and regulations you need to comply with
The need for servicing
In their words: “They should also take care of the land application system and ensure the complete system (treatment unit and land application system) is regularly serviced by a competent and qualified servicing technician. It is likely to be cheaper overall to pay for regular servicing than allow it to fail and face a major cost to fix or replace the failed system.”
Other helpful tips and advice.
To read these helpful guides, please download them (free) from HERE