Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan 10 M arch 2006 Policy 1.6 To improve the community’s understanding of the impact of on-site discharges on the surrounding environment. Policy 1.7 To establish a register to record the details of all on-site wastewater management systems. Policy 1.8 When considering building consent applications to extend or alter residential or commercial buildings serviced by on- site wastewater management systems, an assessment will be made of the wastewater loading that would result from changes in the occupancy of the building. If there is to be an increase in the loading, then a discharge permit will be required to continue discharging domestic wastewater to land. The day-to-day management and ongoing maintenance of on-site wastewater management systems play vital roles in ensuring that domestic wastewater is appropriately treated and contained on-site in the long term. This is because inappropriate use and/or a lack of maintenance can affect the performance of the on-site system. The responsibility for management and maintenance of on-site systems is that of the property owner. The above policies therefore target the important role that property owners play in avoiding the adverse effects of domestic wastewater discharges on the surrounding environment. Given the large number of holiday homes and properties providing visitor accommodation in the Marlborough Sounds, property owners and visitors alike may not be aware of the appropriate methods of using and managing on-site systems. The Council will therefore inform property owners of practical measures they can take to improve the performance of their on-site systems. A good example is the installation of effluent filters into existing conventional on-site systems. These measures may be identified as a result of investigations undertaken by the Council, other councils, the wastewater industry or independent researchers. To reduce the potential for this same situation occurring with any future on-site system, the designer will be required to prepare and submit operation and maintenance guidelines when applying for a discharge permit. Property owners installing proprietary advanced on-site systems are usually required to enter into a maintenance contract by the supplier or installer. The Council will make this a requirement for all such on-site systems through the resource consent process. A lack of maintenance increases the risk of system failure and creates the potential for adverse effects on the surrounding environment. However, property owners may not be aware of the need to desludge septic tanks, others may forget or, given the isolated nature of many parts of the Marlborough Sounds, desludging may be problematic. Even where the on-site system is properly used and well maintained, it could still be performing in an inappropriate manner. This could be as a result of a lack of maintenance by previous owners, an increase in domestic wastewater loadings, or may reflect that the original on-site system was inappropriate given the site characteristics. Examples of poor performance include the land treatment area failing, resulting in the ponding and/or runoff of domestic wastewater, owners modifying the on-site system to discharge directly to a waterbody, offensive or objectionable odour and the leakage of domestic wastewater from the septic tank. 14 - 14