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Services

Community Wastewater Management System

The District Council of Mount Remarkable hold a licence to specifically operate Community Wastewater Management Systems (CWMS) at Booleroo Centre, Melrose, Wirrabara and Wilmington.

To fund this service Council imposes an annual service charge to recover the cost to Council of establishing, operating, maintaining, improving and replacing infrastructure. These charges are detailed in the Annual Business Plan and Budget.

Council is committed to assisting residential customers of the CWMS who are experiencing financial hardship, to manage their payment in a manner that best suits the customer and ensuring they remain connected to a retail service. Please see our CWMS and water supply hardship policy for more information.

New property owners in the District are encouraged to review the service charges applicable to existing pits on properties acquired.

Booleroo Centre, Melrose, Wilmington and Wirrabara:

  • Connection to the CWMS is compulsory.
  • Soakage wells, trenches or pits are not to be connected to the CWMS.
  • Stormwater & roof water drainage are not to be connected to the CWMS.
  • The installation of an effluent system including drainage and plumbing and connection to the Scheme shall only be carried out by registered/licensed plumbers, who on completion must provide a Certificate of Compliance to the Council.
  • Connection to the CWMS shall not be made until an application form has been lodged with and approved by Council.
  • All commercial properties (eg shops, hotels, food premises etc) are required to submit (along with their application to connect) a system designed by an engineer or other competent person showing septic tank sizes, grease arresters, which are compatible with commercial usage (eg number of public beds, usage etc).

Booleroo Centre, Melrose and Wilmington

  • The minimum size of an existing acceptable all purpose septic tank permitted to be connected to the CWMS is 3000 litres. All septic tanks must be complete with an access riser and cover brought to the ground surface - all suitable for removal for future desludging.
  • Wastewater not passing through a septic tank with a minimum liquid capacity of 1620 litres must be connected to an approved sullage tank before discharging into the CWMS. Minimum capacity of a sullage tank is 450 litres - A sullage tank must have two (2) compartments, similar to a septic tank.
  • Septic tanks and sullage tanks must not discharge into each other. Separate connections on the outlet side of each tank will be required.
  • Desludging of septic tanks connected to the CWMS is required every two or four years depending on the size of the tank, to ensure the long life and efficient operation of the CWMS and septic tanks.
  • Septic tanks smaller than 3,000L are required to be desludged every two years and tanks larger than 3,000L require desludging every four years.
  • Council employs a contractor through a tender process and subsequently charges the properties that require desludging by tax invoice for the cost of the service to Council following the user pays concept.

Wirrabara

  • The CWMS in Wirrabara does not require a septic tank to connect to the Scheme and therefore, desludging is not required.