Tank effluent criticised

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32679, 7 August 1971, Page 15

Tank effluent criticised

A sewage outfall from a septic tank serving the upper Selwyn huts was the only use of the main river for waste disposal and was an unacceptable form of treatment where a river outfall was used, said the investigating officer (Mr R. B. Ayrey) in a report received by the North Canterbury Catchment Board yesterday. The fifth in a series of studies of water quality in the board’s district, the report said there was a conflict between the septic tank discharge and use of the river for bathing. Mr Ayrey said there was some discharge into the lower part of the river of milking-shed wastes, and if it was not practicable to dispose of these on the land, it should be possible to treat the effluents before discharge so that bathing water standards were not contravened. Use of the upper river catchment for dairy-waste disposal was negligible. Mr Ayrey said that in establishing a water classification for the river and standards for the. discharge of 1 wastes, the eutrophication of i Lake Ellesmere should be< taken into account. :