Akolele Sewerage Scheme

Project: Providing Akolele village with a reticulated sewerage scheme.

Timing:

  • 2022: Detailed design, environmental assessments, geotechnical investigations.
  • 2023: Construct pressure sewer street mains and install pressure sewer systems on properties.
  • 2024: Sewerage scheme operational.

Funding: $762,000 from the NSW Government’s Restart NSW fund through the Safe and Secure Water program.

Last updated: September 2023

Latest news: September 2023

Ledonne Constructions is making great progress building the new pressure sewerage system in the village. These guys are on track to finish by Christmas.

Details

We are working to: install a new pressurised system throughout Akolele. The system will:

  • collect sewage from individual properties and transfer it to the Bermagui Sewage Treatment Plant
  • replace existing on-site sewage management systems, such as septic tanks and pump outs
  • reduce the risk of harm to the environment and public health.

Benefits to the community: This new system aims to address current issues caused by:

  • an increasing number of sewage pump-out systems
  • failures of on-site treatment and disposal systems
  • inadequate lot sizes and poor-quality soils for on-site disposal.

Providing a sewerage scheme in Akolele is a high priority, and is identified in our long-term water and sewer strategic plan:

Pressure sewerage system benefits and installation

A pressure sewerage system is a closed network of sewerage infrastructure. It pumps sewage from individual properties into street mains and on to treatment plants.

Pressure sewerage systems are often used instead of traditional gravity-fed systems. The benefits, especially to small residential properties, include:

  • reduced installation costs
  • reduced environmental and social impacts
  • removing the need for on-site systems, such as septic tanks, which can pose environmental and health risks.

Small diameter pipes are installed at a shallow depth, requiring minimal site disturbance. Using horizontal drilling technology to install pipes avoids lengthy excavations through residential areas.

Pressure sewerage systems have four main components installed at each property:

  1. a below ground tank (approximately 1m in diameter and 2m deep) to collect and pump household sewage to the street mains via a new pipe
  2. a small diameter pipe connecting the tank to the street mains
  3. a boundary kit containing an isolation valve installed below ground, just inside property boundaries
  4. a pump control panel typically installed on an external wall of a dwelling, containing electrical components and an alarm.

Find out more

You can also find out more about this kind of system on our webpage:

You can find out about the potential environmental impacts of the project in the review of environmental factors:

Eurobodalla and Bega Valley systems

In the Eurobodalla Shire, pressure sewerage systems now operate in Rosedale, Guerilla Bay, Bodalla, and Potato Point.

The Akolele Sewerage Scheme will connect to Bega Valley Shire’s pressure sewerage infrastructure (which services Wallaga Lake Heights, Beauty Point and Fairhaven).

Like the arrangement between the two shires for water provision to Akolele; Bega Valley Shire Council will own and operate the new pressure sewerage infrastructure.

Work and costs involved

Where an on-site sewage management system currently exists, we will (at no cost to property owners):

  • install a new sewage tank, pump, pump control panel, boundary kit and discharge pipe
  • connect household waste to the new tank
  • provide an electrical connection to the pump and any electrical capacity upgrades required (provided the existing electrical works comply with current standards)
  • decommission existing on-site sewage management systems.

Property owners will be responsible for work and costs associated with:

  • rectifying any existing sewage plumbing that does not conform to current standards
  • rectifying any relevant existing electrical works that do not conform to current standards.

We will let property owners know when it is time to organise this work.

Once the scheme is operating, ongoing costs to property owners will include:

  • electrical running costs: approximately $50 per year
  • the standard annual sewer rate payable to Bega Valley Shire Council (not Eurobodalla). Current fees (2023-24):
    • $1,417  for developed properties
    • $709 for undeveloped properties.

  • For vacant lots and houses under construction without an on-site sewage management system, will will only install a connection point (boundary kit) for now.
  • Future development applicants (for new dwellings) will need to liaise with Bega Valley Shire Council about installing a new sewerage system.
  • A fee will be charged for the installation.
  • If a property remains undeveloped the only cost incurred will be the standard annual sewer rate, currently $709 (2023-24 fees), payable to Bega Valley Shire Council.

Project updates

September 2023

  • Construction is well underway with many of the sewerage system components already installed on properties.

July 2023

  • We engaged Ledonne Constructions to build the new pressure sewerage system in the village.

Contact us

For more information about the project, please contact our Water and Sewer Project Engineer, Billy Alves: