Onsite waste water disposal

A system of management and control needs to be in place for onsite domestic wastewater systems. This is to ensure they are effective and sustainable, and play their part in protecting public health and the environment.

The management system for onsite waste water disposal is the Australia Standard 1547:2012 Onsite Domestic Wastewater Management.

The aim of this standard is to:

• protect public health
• maintain and enhance the quality of the environment
• maintain and enhance community amenity
• protect resources.

Before installation

An application and approval for a plumbing permit is required before you begin building works.

This application must be accompanied by a site and soil evaluation and system design from a suitably qualified person. The system design should take into consideration any relevant sections of the Onsite Wastewater Management Code under the Hobart Interim Planning Scheme 2015.

View more information about plumbing permits.

Property owners

If you have an onsite wastewater management system you should understand how it works and what you need to do to maintain it. You should have a copy of the operation, maintenance, and monitoring guidelines and the loading certificate for the system..

You should also make sure that those documents are kept accessible on the property. This is especially important if you don't live on the property but lease it to someone else..

You must make sure that the maintenance carried out on the system is undertaken by a certified contractor. You must also keep records of the system maintenance history for the previous 10 years.