Wodonga Council — Wastewater management systems

If you live in a un-sewered area, you must have an EPA approved wastewater treatment system which is capable of treating the wastes produced from your house within the boundary of your premise.

How you treat the wastewater will depend on your site conditions and personal choice. Onsite wastewater is divided into five categories:

Sewage: All wastewater
Greywater: Water from the shower, bath, basins, washing machine, laundry trough and kitchen (also referred to as sullage).
Blackwater: Toilet waste
Yellowwater: Urine with or without water
Brownwater: Sewage without urine

Land capability assessments

To understand your site conditions, a land capability assessment (LCA) must be conducted by a suitably qualified and experienced LCA provider.

It is very important that an LCA be carried out early in the planning phase of the development of a new house as it may have significant design implications to the site. Planning approval is dependent on a permit to install a wastewater treatment system onsite, therefore delays can occur if an application has not been lodged.

LCA providers can be found through Yellow Pages or through an internet search. More information on these can also be found in the EPA's LCA web publication.

Exemptions for LCA

A LCA is not required where alterations to the house occur that do not impact the load on the current system.

Maintenance requirements

These requirements are your responsibility and are dependent on the system you have chosen to install.

Systems will be inspected at three yearly or quarterly intervals depending on the type you have.

Available systems

There are numerous systems approved by the EPA that can be used if your site permits it after the land capability assessment (LCA) report.

Each system has different levels of cost, maintenance and legal requirements. It is important that you are fully aware of the requirement of your system prior to installing.

A comprehensive list of approved systems and their requirements are available through the Environment Protection Authority Victoria website.

You will need to apply for install a new wastewater management system with us before installing it.