In 2017, a spill discharged contaminated sewage into the wetlands and waterways in Crookwell. It is not known how much effluent flowed from the Crookwell Sewage Treatment Plant, the result of ageing infrastructure.
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Data showed in 2017-18, the sewage plant serviced around 1420 residential and non-residential properties according to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE). The plant discharged a total of 407 megalitres of both treated and untreated sewage, enough to fill 162 Olympic size swimming pools, in the same year.
Total connections have increased since then and the plant now services more properties, DPIE data showed.
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Aquatic Ecologist, Cecil Ellis, explained that a sewage spill would have immediate consequences in the surrounding environment if it was a significant volume.
Mr Ellis, from Nature Navigation, has worked with Upper Lachlan Landcare to assess the health of local waterways and educated local school children.
He said, the concern with sewage spills include, the introduction of nutrients from sewage contamination can lead to algal blooms, which can be toxic to livestock, and contribute to fish kills, secondly, they can introduce bacterial content which can lead to poor human health outcomes.
However, after a significant spill there would have been a noticeable change to the surrounding environment, almost immediately, he said.
There is another factor, he said, if there is less rainfall to dilute or flush sewage a high number of nutrients and fertilisers will flow into the wetland and reduce the oxygen, which could lead to fish kills.
"If there is a lot of sewage and a low flow, that is bad," he said.
In 2020, manholes overflowed in Crookwell due to heavy rain and snow. The system ran at 14 times its average daily water flow between August 19 to 23, a council document stated. The Upper Lachlan Shire Council general manager, Colleen Worthy said, at the time, the the matter was being investigated.
"The overflow was mostly, if not all stormwater and, with the high dilution, the risk to human health is negligible," she said, however, caution should be taken.
Mayor John Stafford recently told Craig Prichard on 2GN Goulburn radio, that ageing infrastructure, such as the sewage treatment plant, was typical of every country council.
"In this instance, our treatment plant is 60-years-old, and yeh [sic], we have hiccups from time to time, because you are trying to maintain something of this age."
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"It's one thing to keep band aiding these things," he said.
He said, that Ms Worthy and council staff had met with the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) to discuss replacing the treatment plant.
"We need that government funding," Cr Stafford added.
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The name of the department in paragraphs 2 and 3 was corrected to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
The data is from the local water utilities performance monitoring data and reports in regional NSW. In paragraph 2, the volume quoted is the volume of treated sewage discharged from a local water utilities sewage treatment plants (including untreated sewage discharged, ST16).
The original article was corrected on September 30.
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