Our Policy, and the Permit System
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We all have a duty to protect the environment. Your right to discharge industrial wastes to sewer is not automatic, and is controlled by regulations (By-Laws) associated with the Water Services Act (WA) 1901.
The regulations are designed to protect the environment, protect our public wastewater system and assets, and protect public health. Under these regulations, Industrial Waste is defined as anything other than domestic (ie: household) waste. You must have a written agreement with us before you can discharge Industrial Waste to sewer.
Whilst protection of the environment, public assets and public health are important considerations, our policy is to accept Industrial Waste wherever we can, and make our facilities available wherever it is appropriate to do so.
We do this as a benefit to the community, recognising that our public wastewater system can offer an alternative disposal method for certain types of Industrial Wastes, and may in fact be the best way for our society to deal with these wastes in many instances.
We are obliged by the Water Services Act to administer proper controls relating to Industrial Wastes through a permit system. Your Permit is your authority to discharge Industrial Waste to sewer. Taken together, your Application to us and the Permit we issue to you form a written agreement as per the regulations.
We may attach conditions to your Permit. These conditions define more precisely the extent of our agreement to accept your wastes. Typically, conditions are only imposed to the extent necessary to protect our systems, the community, and the environment. Conditions are also used to promote best practice in management of industrial wastewater, and thus reduce the overall costs of waste management to the community as a whole.
Downloads
Download our information brochures relating to Permits and our Policy
Acceptance Criteria for Automotive Industries
Acceptance Criteria for Food Outlets
Acceptance Criteria for Small Business
Industrial Waste Permits For Small Business
Our Motivation
The Water Corporation’s sewer system and wastewater treatment and disposal systems are designed primarily to treat domestic wastewater. However, many businesses and industry generate industrial wastewater streams (or trade waste) which must be disposed of in a cost effective and environmentally responsible manner. In many instances, and despite being designed for a different purpose, our sewer system and treatment processes are well suited to the effective management of many common types of wastes generated by business and industry.
Consequently, the Water Corporation provides an Industrial Waste service to accept sewer discharge of many types of industrial and trade wastes. We offer this service in recognition of:
- The wider community need for a safe and healthy environment,
- The needs of the business community for cost effective trade waste disposal options, and
- The potential benefits afforded by our municipal wastewater systems.
Our Policy
In short, our policy is to provide this service to accept industrial wastes wherever we can, whilst administering proper controls to ensure any risks are avoided, and thus enabling the overall costs of waste management within our community to be minimised.
See our information brochure 'Industrial Waste Permits' for more information.
Our Constraints
Of course, there are limits on the types of industrial wastes we can accept. Unauthorised discharges of industrial wastes have the potential to:
- Damage our sewer system,
- Cause sewer failures, which in turn threaten public health,
- Disrupt our treatment plant processes,
- Damage the ultimate receiving environment,
- Preclude re-use of treated wastewater or disposal of treatment by-products due to residual contaminants, or
- Pose a hazard to our workers within our wastewater system.
Consequently, we have developed a set of mass or concentration limits for a range of common contaminants and quality parameters.
These criteria are developed from consideration of the overall capacity and capabilities of our wastewater system as a whole, to firstly determine the aggregate loading that we can safely and responsibly accept into our system. This aggregate loading capacity is then translated into limits for individual businesses, after consideration of the total demand that could be expected from within the area serviced by the wastewater system. This process is repeated for each particular type of contaminant or quality parameter, and consideration given to potential interactions of different contaminants within our system.
For a detailed list of common contaminants and quality parameters, and the associated acceptance limits and criteria for each of these, please see the relevant information brochure
Any particular issues or actions required to meet these criteria will be specified in your individual Permit Conditions. In most instances, these acceptance criteria are easily addressed with the addition of simple and easily managed Pre-Treatment fixtures such as grease traps, oil separators, and so on. These devices modify your wastewater prior to sewer discharge, either trapping or neutralising various contaminants, to bring your wastewater characteristics within the limits set down in our acceptance criteria
Our Approach
Our approach to managing the environmental and public impact of accepting Industrial Wastes into our system is threefold.
Firstly, for wastes that are not at all compatible with our systems, we simply cannot accept them. In these cases, the costs to business, the environment, and the community as a whole are minimised if alternative disposal methods are used.
For wastes that are perfectly compatible with the biological treatment processes at our centralised wastewater treatment plants, we can allow direct discharge into our sewer. Given that these treatment plants already exist, and already operate on a large scale, this is the most cost effective way for our community to handle these wastes.
Finally, for wastes that are only partially compatible with our systems, our preference is to encourage pre-treatment and waste minimisation at source, thus improving the suitability of the wastewater before it is discharged to sewer. For many types of contaminants, pre-treatment of small volumes at the source is typically more cost effective than trying to remove the contaminants from millions and millions of litres of wastewater after it has been diluted in the system.
Through Permit Conditions for all customers and pricing incentives for larger customers, we encourage waste minimisation, cleaner production, and an optimal balance of pre-treatment versus centralised treatment. Our ultimate objective is to reduce the overall costs of wastewater management for the business community, and for our society as a whole.
Our Controls
To ensure that these environmental and public health controls are maintained, the Industrial Waste service incorporates a Permit system to manage the totality of industrial wastes entering the public wastewater system.
Your Permit is your authority to discharge industrial waste to sewer, subject to any associated conditions.
We may attach conditions to your Permit. These conditions define more precisely what wastes you can discharge, and the extent of our agreement to accept your wastes. Conditions are only imposed to the extent necessary to protect our systems, the community, and the environment.
Permit Conditions are also used by us to expand the availability of our service, and offer the service more widely in the community. Rather than saying ‘No’, we’d prefer to say ‘Yes, provided…’. We also use permit conditions to encourage the best mix of treatment at source versus centralised large-scale treatment, and to promote good environmental practice within businesses.
Each business is individually assessed when they connect to the service, and any pre-treatment requirements or other necessary controls on the wastewater discharges from their activity are specified in the conditions associated with their Permit. By complying with your Permit conditions, you can be assured that your wastes are being properly handled and treated, and you can be satisfied that your responsibilities to the community and environment are being met.
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Sewer damage results from illegal waste discharge. Pipe section A shows a portion of a sewer where cement wastes were disposed of without approval. In Section B, calcium and aluminium salts from pipe manufacture and metal processing factories have formed a tough scale resulting in costly sewer blockages.
(Photo courtesy of Brisbane Water)