Latest news with #effluent
News.com.au
07-08-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
High levels of pollutants found in sewage discharge running into Sydney's drinking water
Sydney's drinking water could be at risk of nutrient pollution from effluent discharged at sewage treatment plants. Researchers have raised the alarm over the quality of effluent discharged into waterways that run into Sydney's main drinking water after high levels of pollutants were identified. University of Western Sydney researchers studied how treated effluent discharged from five sewage treatment plants across NSW affected water quality in the Warragamba Dam catchment. The dam is Sydney's main water supply, providing 95 per cent of drinking water to 5.5 million people. The study found levels of nitrogen and phosphorous up to 10 times the recommended Water NSW catchment river guidelines. Researchers are calling for authorities to adopt best practice to remove nutrients from effluent before a crisis occurs. A WaterNSW spokesperson said in a statement it used advanced monitoring technology to identify the best quality water in Warragamba to supply to Sydney Water for treatment and distribution. 'When blue green algae (BGA) does occur, it can be managed using Warragamba's multi-level offtake capacity, which can select water from various depths to avoid the BGA.' It said Warragamba 'rarely' experienced problematic levels of BGA, with the most serious outbreak in 2007. 'Importantly, no unusual spike in nutrient levels that could be attributed to sewage treatment plants is being detected,' the spokesperson said. University of Western Sydney chief scientist Ian Wright said it was not a disaster right now but they were raising the alarm to watch nutrient levels before a crisis occurred. 'We need to act sooner rather than later to give it the appropriate investment to look after this incredibly invaluable natural environment,' he said. 'As more and more people move in the standard of sewage treatment should be absolutely the best possible and at the moment, our work shows that it isn't.' Dr Wright said sewage infrastructure was something most people did not think about but if it failed to keep up with a rising population then there could be catastrophic problems down the track. 'Nutrients and algae go together, highly elevated nutrients are basically liquid plant food and algae are plants, so they can grow out of control,' he said. 'We had some very big fish kills in western NSW about three years ago, and a lot of that was triggered by blue green algae blooms.' Nutrient pollution can be toxic to human health and can be particularly harmful to infants if drinking water is contaminated, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) regulates and reviews the licence that sewage treatment plants (STPs) operate under across NSW every five years. A NSW EPA spokesman said each licence included enforceable limits on pollutants that were tailored to the plant's design, capacity, and local environmental conditions. 'All licences are reviewed at least every five years to ensure they remain fit for purpose, reflect changes such as population growth and available technology and continue to meet environmental and community expectations,' a spokesman said. 'Sewage treatment plants are required to have effective nutrient removal systems. 'Where upgrades are needed — such as at Mittagong STP — the EPA works closely with councils and agencies to ensure improvements are delivered.' Dr Wright said the different agencies that manage water and sewage plants needed to meet met much sooner. 'In many cases, that isn't what happens often … what often occurs is something really bad happens, and then there's an inquiry, after the fact, so we're trying to get ahead of that,' he said.
CTV News
18-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Idled pulp and paper mill in northern Ont. fined $525K for EPA violations
The mill was the main employer in Terrace Bay -- population 1,600 -- and nearby communities, including Schreiber and Pays Plat First Nation. (Township of Terrace Bay photo) AV Terrace Bay has been fined for two Environmental Protection Act violations related to discharges into the water and air that exceeded guidelines. The Terrace Bay mill, which has been idled since 2024, was fined for separate incidents in 2023. In the first case, the mill was required to ensure that the discharged effluent would have a mortality rate of no more than 50 per cent for test organisms. 'The mill generates industrial effluent that undergoes primary and secondary treatment prior to discharging to Lake Superior via Blackbird Creek,' the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said in a news release this week. Each month, the mill must test the effluent to ensure it doesn't kill more than 50 per cent of test organisms, in this case, rainbow trout. 'On May 1, 2023, 100 per cent of the rainbow trout died during an acute lethality test performed on a grab sample of the mill's final effluent,' the release said. AV Terrace Bay immediately reported the incident to the ministry, as it is required to do. 'On May 1, 2023, 100 per cent of the rainbow trout died during an acute lethality test performed on a grab sample of the mill's final effluent.' — Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks 'On the same day … the company obtained an additional effluent sample and tested it once a week for four weeks with no further reported failures,' meaning the failed test appeared to be 'an isolated incident.' The second violation is related to limits on sulphur emissions, which were violated four times on May 23. Sulphur concentrations in the air can't exceed 27 parts per billion in over a 10-minute average period more than two times in six months. 'AV Terrace Bay breached this prohibition on four occasions in May 2023,' the ministry said. Again, AV Terrace Bay reported the breaches immediately. For the two EPA violations, the company was fined a total of $525,000, plus a victim fine surcharge of $131,250, and given 12 months to pay. AV Terrace Bay Inc. owns and operates a pulp mill on Mill Road in the Township of Terrace Bay. The mill converts wood into pulp using a kraft pulping process. Due to financial constraints and market conditions, the mill has been in a warm idle state and has not been producing product or revenue since at least January 2024.
RNZ News
02-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Waikato share milker convicted, fined $40,000 for allowing farm effluent into Puniu river
Council officer sampling from an effluent storage pond. Photo: Supplied A Waikato share milker has been convicted, fined $40,000 and sentenced to 140 hours community work after allowing farm effluent to enter a nearby branch of the Puniu River, near Te Awamutu. Daniel Lund manages a family farm at Pokuru near Te Awamutu. In July and August 2022, council compliance officers conducted three inspections of the farm effluent system. During two inspections they found effluent storage ponds overflowing into a tributary of the Puniu River. On another occasion they found effluent ponding and runoff from an irrigator. A previous abatement notice that had been served on Lund was also being breached. Lund appeared last week before Judge Melinda Dickey in the Hamilton District Court facing five charges under the Resource Management Act because of a prosecution taken by Waikato Regional Council. In summing up her decision, Judge Dickey said she found Lund to be highly careless. "There appears to have been insufficient attention paid to the infrastructure and management of effluent disposal." Judge Dickey found the operation of the system left much to be desired. Waikato Regional compliance manager Patrick Lynch said the farm effluent ponds were inadequate and posed a real risk to the environment. "Mr Lund displayed a lack of understanding of managing effluent effectively and safely on the property," Lynch said. "Moving into the wetter and busier time of the year for farmers, this prosecution is a timely reminder to all farmers that there needs to be adequate effluent infrastructure and good effluent management systems on every farm." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Sky News
16-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Welsh Water fined £1.35m over sewage discharge breaches
A water company has been fined £1.35m over the monitoring of its effluent discharges dating back four years. Welsh Water was also ordered to pay £70,237.70 in costs after pleading guilty to over 800 breaches of its discharge permits. Water companies have been required to self-monitor their effluent discharges from their sewage and water treatment works since 2010. Welsh Water submitted its own discharge data to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as part of its annual report. The non-compliances, reported in the firm's 2020 and 2021 reports, were related to recording final effluent samples at wastewater treatment works and summarised into 18 offences. The discharges were spread across 300 sites throughout Wales and Herefordshire. Welsh Water pleaded guilty to 15 of the 18 charges on 16 October, with the remaining charges accepted on 17 December. Over 600 of the breaches were recorded in the 2020 report, which Welsh Water said were mainly caused by internal restructuring and the effects of the COVID pandemic. In 2023, the water company had its status downgraded over a rise in pollution incidents. Sian Williams, head of operations at Natural Resources Wales, said the case highlighted "inadequacies in the processes" at Welsh Water. Ms Williams said NRW believe the "failings shown" could have been avoided if "better contingency planning" had been in place. "This is a stark warning to the company that we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers to secure the improvements we expect to see," she added. A Welsh Water spokesperson told Sky News it had a "strong record of compliance" with its monitoring obligations before and after the period in question. "No sites were left unmonitored during this time, but the unique circumstances during 2020/21 caused significant challenges and disruption to our operations," they said. While there had been "no identified environmental harm associated with this case" the company recognised its compliance "fell short" in 2020 and 2021 and had entered a guilty plea "at the earliest opportunity". "Welsh Water will continue to work closely with our regulators to ensure that we deliver on our two main priorities, the best possible service to our customers and protecting the environment," the spokesperson added.
