What is trade waste pre-treatment?
A pre-treatment device is used to reduce the trade waste contaminant load before being discharged into the sewerage system. Council has strict sewer admission limits that must be met before waste water is accepted. Pre-treating trade waste helps to safeguard the sewerage system against damage, blockages or surcharges and reduces the operational cost of the system. Pre-treatment also safeguards the environment and public health.
It may be necessary to install pre-treatment equipment on a property before trade waste is accepted into Council’s sewerage system. Council has the sole discretion to determine whether pre-treatment is required at the premises, based on the nature of the waste, site location and potential effluent quantity and quality. All pre-treatment devices or equipment must be of a design and capacity approved by Council.
What are pre-treatment devices?
Pre-treatment devices facilitate the removal of pollutants harmful to people, the environment and the sewerage system. The waste water from most commercial and service industries require some form of pre-treatment before entering the sewerage system. The type of pre-treatment required is dependent on the types of waste to be produced.
Examples are:
- Grease arrestors
- Silt arrestors
- Oily water separators
- Coalescing plate separators
- Vertical gravity separators
- Holding tanks
- Dilution tanks
- Acid neutralisers
- Amalgam separators
- Plaster trap
- Triple interceptor trap
- Cooling pit – for temperatures greater than 38°
- In-sink and floor waste basket traps
What type of pre-treatment device do I need?
Depending on your business or industry type, one or more pre-treatment devices may be required.
Guidelines on the types of devices required can be found within our Trade Waste Environmental Management Plan from pages 41 to 46.
Specific requirements will be determined by Council’s Plumbing Source & Control Officer. To discuss what is needed for your particular business, please contact us on 1300 883 699.
Why do I need to install pre-treatment devices?
Council’s sewerage system has been designed primarily to transport and treat domestic waste water. The treatment processes at Council’s waste water treatment plants are complex and finely balanced and can easily be disrupted by non-conforming or poorly treated trade waste. Insufficient pre-treatment can lead to blockages in the sewer main and may also cause costly damage to infrastructure.
Who is responsible for servicing and maintaining the pre-treatment device?
The property owner and/or generator is responsible for maintaining their pre-treatment device/s. Charges for servicing, cleaning and pumping out of pre-treatment apparatus are issued by private contractors and are the responsibility of the property owner or trade waste generator, and do not relate to the property’s trade waste fees and charges.
How often do pre-treatment devices need to be serviced?
Regular servicing and maintenance is required to ensure the equipment always remains in an efficient and effective operating condition. The frequency is determined by:
- the type and size of the pre-treatment device
- the volume of the trade waste discharged to the device; and
- the amount of pollutants contained in the trade waste discharged to the device
Council will determine the service frequencies for each device and outline these requirements in the Trade Waste Approval issued to both the generator and property owner. Based on the outcomes of inspections and/or quality compliance analyses, Council may determine to amend the service frequencies. Where a change occurs, Council will re-issue an amended trade waste approval.
Do I need to keep my cleaning and maintenance dockets?
Yes. The property owner and/or generator is required to keep records of dates of cleaning and maintenance carried out on the pre-treatment device, and provide copies to Council upon request.
Liquid waste transporters must maintain records to account for all waste collected and disposed of within or outside Council’s jurisdiction. These records must be submitted to Council and may be used to audit the pre-treatment servicing arrangements of trade waste customers.