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Chapter 14: Discharges to Land and Water

14.5 Rules - Human effluent and domestic wastewater*

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Rule Activity Classification Conditions/Standards/Terms Control/Discretion Non-Notification
14-13 Existing discharges^ of domestic wastewater* The discharge^ of domestic wastewater* onto or into land^ pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA from an on-site wastewater treatment and land^ application system and any ancillary discharge^ of contaminants^ into air pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA lawfully in existence at 1 July 2011. New and upgraded discharges^ of domestic wastewater* are controlled by Rule 14-14. Permitted
  1. The design flow as specified in section 3 of the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010) must be no greater than 2 m 3/d (2,000 litres per day).
  2. The flow allowance used to calculate the system design flow must be no less than 145 litres per person per day where the water^ supply is provided by roof water^ collection, or no less than 180 litres per person per day for other sources of water^ supply.
  3. The discharge^ must consist only of contaminants^ normally associated with domestic sewage and greywater.
  4. There must be no direct discharge^ of wastewater to groundwater.
  5. The discharge^ must comply with the following separation distances:
    1. at least 20 m from any bore* used for drinking water^ supply
    2. at least 20 m from surface water bodies^, artificial watercourses* and the coastal marine area^.
  6. The discharge^ must not cause any offensive or objectionable odour beyond the property* boundary.
  7. There must be no increase in the concentration of pathogenic organisms in any surface water body^ as a result of the discharge^.
  8. The wastewater treatment and land^ application system must be maintained by a manufacturer- approved contractor in accordance with the supplier’s specifications or the requirements of the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010), whichever are the more stringent. All records of each maintenance* action must be retained and made available for inspection by the Regional Council or its agents upon request.
  
14-14 New and upgraded discharges^ of domestic wastewater* The discharge^ of domestic wastewater* onto or into land^ pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA and any ancillary discharge^ of contaminants^ into air pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA from a new or upgraded onsite wastewater treatment and land^ application system which either:
  1. is newly established after this rule^ becomes operative^, or
  2. involves the upgrade* of a system that existed at the date that this rule^ becomes operative^.
 Permitted
  1. The activity must comply with conditions (a) to (g) of Rule 14-13.
  2. All aspects of the wastewater treatment and land^ application system, including soil assessment, design, installation and operation, must be in accordance with the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010).
  3. Where the property* within which the discharge^ occurs is 10 ha or greater:
    1. septic tanks must be fitted with effluent outlet filters, unless the equivalent level of treatment is provided within a secondary or advanced secondary wastewater treatment system
    2. the areal loading rate within the wastewater land^ application area must be no greater than the least conservative rate provided in Tables 6.2, 6.6, 6.8 and 6.10 of the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010).
  4. Where the property* within which the discharge^ occurs is less than 10 ha but 4 ha or greater:
    1. the treatment system must be either secondary treatment which must achieve, as a minimum, the following discharge^ quality standards: 20 g/m 3 Biochemical Oxygen Demand and 30 g/m 3 Suspended Solids or an improved primary septic tank and outlet filter
    2. the land^ application system must be via pumping to dose load pressure compensating dripper irrigation lines for secondary or advanced secondary treated effluent and shallow low pressure effluent distribution trenches for primary treated effluent or lesser rate in accordance with that prescribed in Table 6.2 in the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010)
    3. the areal loading rate within the wastewater land^ application area must be no greater than 5 mm/d (5 litres per m 2 per day) for secondary treated effluent and no greater than 3 mm/d (3 litres per m 2 per day) for primary treated effluent.
  5. Where the property* within which the discharge^ occurs is less than 4 ha:
    1. the property* must cover an area of at least either 5,000 m 2 for property* created by subdivision after this rule^ becomes operative^, or 2,500 m² for property* that existed at the date that this rule^ becomes operative^
    2. the wastewater treatment system must include secondary treatment which must achieve, as a minimum, the following discharge^ quality standards: 20 g/m³ Biochemical Oxygen Demand, 30 g/m³ Suspended Solids, and 60 g/m³ Total Nitrogen
    3. the land^ application system must be via pumping to dose load pressure compensating dripper irrigation lines
    4. the areal loading rate within the wastewater land^ application area must be no greater than 3 mm/d (3 litres per m² per day) or lesser rate in accordance with that prescribed in Table 6.2 in the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010).
  6. Separation distances to water bodies^ and property* boundaries must be in accordance with those specified in Table 2.2 in the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010).
  7. The placement, burial, covering and exclusion of the land^ application area must be as specified in section 6 in the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010).
  8. For secondary treatment systems there must be at least a 50% reserve disposal area allocation. For primary treatment systems this reserve area allocation must be not less than 100%.
    1. The activity must not take place in any rare habitat*, threatened habitat* or at-risk habitat*
  9. The activity must not be to any historic heritage^ identified in any district plan^ or regional plan^.
  10. The wastewater treatment and land^ application system must be maintained by a manufacturer approved contractor in accordance with the supplier’s specifications or the requirements of the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010), whichever are the more stringent. All records of each maintenance* action must be retained and made available for inspection by the Regional Council or its agents upon request.
  11. The discharge^ must not cause any offensive or objectionable odour beyond the property* boundary.
  
14-15 Discharges^ of domestic wastewater* not complying with Rules 14-13 and 14-14 The discharge^ of domestic wastewater* onto or into land^ pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA and any ancillary discharge^ of contaminants^ into air pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA from an on-site wastewater treatment and disposal system that does not comply with one or more of the conditions^ of Rules 14-13 or 14-14. Restricted Discretionary
  1. The design flow must not exceed 6 m 3/d.
  2. The flow allowance used to calculate the system design flow must be no less than 145 litres per person per day where the water^ supply is provided by roof water^ collection, or no less than 180 litres per person per day for other sources of water^ supply.
  3. The discharge^ must consist only of contaminants^ normally associated with domestic sewage and greywater.
  4. The activity must not take place in any rare habitat*, threatened habitat* or at-risk habitat*.
  5. The activity must not be to any historic heritage^ identified in any district plan^ or regional plan^.
 Discretion is restricted to:
  1. the volume of wastewater and design of the treatment system
  2. compliance with the Manual for On-Site Wastewater Systems Design and Management (Horizons Regional Council, 2010)
  3. the design of the disposal system, the disposal method, and the rate of land^ application
  4. the discharge^ quality, and allowable level of contamination (e) environmental^ effects^ arising from the location and method of disposal
  5. the reserve application area
  6. duration of consent
  7. review of consent conditions^
  8. compliance monitoring
  9. the matters in Policy 14-9.
Resource consent^ applications under this rule^ will not be notified and written approval of affected persons will not be required (notice of applications need not be served^ on affected persons).
14-16 Human effluent storage and treatment facilities The discharge^ onto or into land^ of human effluent pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA for the purpose of storing or treating the effluent in ponds and any ancillary discharge^ to air pursuant to s15(2A) RMA.

Advice Note: This rule^ controls sewage treatment and storage ponds but does not control domestic wastewater* treatment and disposal, which is controlled under Rules 14-13, 14-14 and 14-15.		 Permitted
  1. All effluent storage and treatment facilities (including sumps and ponds) must be sealed to restrict seepage of effluent. The permeability of the sealing layer must not exceed 1x10 -9 m/s.
  2. All effluent storage and treatment facilities (including sumps and ponds) must be located and managed in a manner which ensures at all times that:
    1. effluent run-off from the area into surface water bodies^, artificial watercourses* and the coastal marine area^ is prevented
    2. run-off from the surrounding catchment is prevented from entering the area.
  3. The discharge^ must not result in any offensive or objectionable odour beyond the boundary of the subject property*.
  4. The discharge^ must comply with the following separation distances:
    1. 150 m from any residential buildings, public places and amenity areas where people congregate, education facilities and public roads
    2. 50 m from rare habitats*, threatened habitats* and at-risk habitats*
    3. 30 m from bores*, surface water bodies^, artificial watercourses* and the coastal marine area^
    4. 50 m from historic heritage^ as identified in any district plan^ or regional plan^.
  
14-17 Discharges^ of untreated human effluent* directly into surface water^ The discharge^ of untreated human effluent* directly into a surface water body^ pursuant to s15(1) RMA, except stormwater that is contaminated with sewage as a result of infiltration during rainfall. Prohibited    

Rule Guide:
The location of archaeological sites when defined by a single co-ordinate is unlikely to define the true extent of subsurface archaeological evidence. The 50 metre rule should apply from the outer perimeter of the site.

Some discharges in rare habitats*, threatened habitats* and at-risk habitats* are regulated by Rules 13-8 and 13-9. Discharges at other locations are regulated as follows:
  1. Activities not covered by rules - Discharges of sewage pursuant to ss15(1) RMA that are not covered by the rules above are a discretionary activity under Rule 14-30.
  2. Activities that do not comply - Discharges of domestic wastewater* pursuant to ss15(1) or 15(2A) RMA that do not comply with the permitted activity, controlled activity or restricted discretionary activity rules above, but which are not prohibited, are a discretionary activity under Rule 14-30.

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