Good for Manly - Candy Bingham
  • Home
  • About
    • Candy Bingham
    • Executive Committee
    • Good For Manly Association
  • Manly Talks
    • Previous Talks
  • Ferries
    • Ferry Facts
  • News
    • Manly Town Hall >
      • Town Hall Team
      • Town Hall News
  • Community
  • Contact/Subscribe
  • Become a Member

Picture

Population Grows But Capacity Does Not

20/11/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
North Head Sewage Plant Still Pollutes, Still Smells.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) recently approved only one of the two additional digesters sought by Sydney Water for the North Head biosolids amplification project.  As a consequence Sydney Water is currently reviewing the options that will flow from operating the plant with less equipment than they deemed necessary.

The need for the second digester was supported by the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
 

The EPA advised IPART that current load limits and concentration limits for some sewage treatment plants were derived many years ago.  North Head licence load and concentration limits were set many years ago.
 
The quantity and composition of the material pumped into the ocean at North Head
 The current EPA licence load limits the discharge into the ocean at North Head is 35,011 tonnes for solids and 5570 tonnes for oil and grease also the licence sets concentration limits for discharging solids, oil and grease into the ocean.
 
              Licence Assessable Pollutants                                      Load limits in kilograms
 
    BOD (Coastal Water) (Biological Oxygen demand)                      35010800                                                                           Cadmium (Coastal Water)                                                                            283
    Chromium (Coastal Water)                                                                         3011
    Copper (Coastal Water)                                                                             37583
    Lead (Coastal Water)                                                                                    3568
    Mercury (Coastal Water)                                                                                  60
    Nitrogen (total) Coastal Water                                                             7957000
    Oil and Grease (Coastal Water)                                                            5569900                                                                        Pesticides and PCBs (Coastal Water)                                                          370
    Phosphorus (total) (Coastal Water)                                                     1909680
    Selenium (Coastal Water)                                                                            2387
    Total Suspended Solids (Coastal Water)                                           35010800
    Zinc (Coastal Water)                                                                                    51066
 
Under the EPA licence millions of dollars are paid annually by Sydney Water to the State Government for the right to discharge these pollutants from the Plant into the marine environment.  

The impact of the cleaning process of the digesters
Sydney Water has operated the treatment plant with three digesters since September 2007 and each of these digesters needs to be cleaned and refurbished and this process takes a digester off-line for seven months. One digester was cleaned in 2014, a second one was cleaned in 2015 and cleaning of the third is due to be completed in December 2016.
 
Sydney Water’s digesters maintenance information indicates that a temporary increase in odours may occur during the cleaning process and recently, there have been days in succession when strong odours reached the two parking areas for viewing the harbour on the North Head Scenic Driveway.
 
In addition, the number of biosolids truck movements increase only in the first month when a digester is cleaned. Biosolids trucks still emit biosolids and deodoriser odours when moving through the streets of Manly.
 
Micro plastic particles entering the ocean
Treated effluent from the wastewater treatment plants is a pathway for micro plastic particles to enter the ocean.
 
This worldwide problem of plastic in the marine environment has made operators of wastewater treatment plants throughout the world seek solutions to the problem of micro plastics in effluent discharged to the marine environment.
 
We hope that the New South Wales government has decided that the problem should be looked at for North Head treatment plant.
 
Conclusion
 We have not lost sight of the fact that the solution sought by Sydney Water for the North Head treatment plant has not been announced.  We await a decision that will lead to a better outcome for the community and the environment. 

2 Comments
Amanda Schmidt
29/11/2016 10:28:12 am

I was shocked to read the figures for pollutant loads North
Head's Environment Protection Licence permits the plant to discharge into the ocean.

Sydney, we must be able to do better.

The licence is stated as derived many years ago - how many years, a decade, or more?

It seems clear to me that without an upgrade to full primary treatment, increasing levels of pollution are not sustainable.

Worldwide the problem of microplastics in the ocean is serious, and there are many countries combating this issue. It is concerning that our NSW Government are not addressing the issue of microplastics entering the ocean thought our sewage effluent.

Reply
Beverley Trevenen
30/11/2016 04:16:09 pm

Hi Amanda,

The load levels for solids and Mercury for North Head Sewage Treatment Plant are the same as those that existed in January 1991 set by the State Pollution Control Commission.

Full primary treatment at North Head would increase the level of solids captured to 65-70% reducing the discharge of pollutants into the ocean.

I agree we must be able to do better, this is not good enough!

Sydneysiders should be demanding plans are established to eliminate all sewage, chemicals and micro plastics being pumped into the ocean.

It is time that we started to catch-up with New Zealand and numerous other countries on how we treat our marine environment.

Beverley Trevenen

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Candy Bingham, Manly Ward Councillor on Northern Beaches Council posts what's making news and issues relevant to Manly on this blog. 

    To subscribe click the RSS Feed button below

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    30kph Zone
    Amalgamation
    Art
    Balgowlah
    Bandicoots
    Bikes
    B Line
    B-Line
    Boarding Houses
    Boating
    Boat Trailer Street Parking
    Boy Charlton Pool
    Budget
    Candy Bingham
    Carparks
    Car Share
    Chid Care
    Cigarette Butts
    Clontarf
    Coal Seam Gas
    Community Services
    Container Deposit Scheme; Bottles
    Council
    Council Budget
    Crime
    Crows
    Cycling
    Development Applications
    Dogs
    East Esplanade
    Environment
    Fairlight
    Fairy Bower
    Footbridge
    Good For Manly
    Good For Many
    Graffiti
    Heritage
    History
    Hospital
    Infrastructure
    Jump Rock
    Kenneth Road Parking
    Lend Lease
    Library
    Lifeline
    Litter
    Little Collins Beach
    Little Manly
    Little Manly Point
    Little Manly Precinct
    LM Graham Reserve
    Manly
    Manly2015
    Manly 2015 Plan
    Manly Beach
    Manly Boy Charlton Swim Centre
    Manly Cinema
    Manly Community Centre
    Manly Council
    Manly Cove
    Manly Dam
    Manly Ferry
    Manly Golf Club
    Manly Harbour Pool
    Manly Hospital
    Manly Oval Car Park
    Manly Sea Life Sanctuary
    Manly Swim Centre
    Manly Vale
    Manly Village School
    Manly Wharf
    Manly Wine Food Festival
    Manly Women's Shelter
    Marine Education
    Market Place
    Miap
    Mike Baird
    Mslsc
    Norfolk Island Pines
    Northern Beaches
    Northern Beaches Council
    Northern Beaches Hospital
    North Head
    North Head Sewage Plant
    North Steyne Stormwater Pipe
    Nsw 2021 Plan
    Nth Beaches Council
    Oceanworld
    Office Of Information Commissioner
    Ombudsman's Report
    Parking
    Pedestrian Crossing
    Penguins
    Police Station
    Pollution
    Precinct
    Protest
    Public Transport
    Ravens
    Referendum
    Restaurants
    Royal Far West Site
    Rta
    Rubbish
    Safe Speed Zone
    Schools
    Seaforth Tafe
    Seagrass
    Sharks
    Shoroc
    Signs
    Speed Humps
    Spit
    Spring Cove
    Spring Cove Development
    Surf Carnival; NSW State Championships
    Surfing
    Sustainability
    Sydney Harbour
    Sydney Water
    Telstra
    The Corso
    Theft
    Toilets
    Traffic
    Trees
    Urinal
    Views
    Waste Collection
    Water Tank
    Whistler St Site
    Wi Fi

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About
    • Candy Bingham
    • Executive Committee
    • Good For Manly Association
  • Manly Talks
    • Previous Talks
  • Ferries
    • Ferry Facts
  • News
    • Manly Town Hall >
      • Town Hall Team
      • Town Hall News
  • Community
  • Contact/Subscribe
  • Become a Member