Changes To On Water Sewage Management.

The Environment protection Authority (EPA) Tasmania have advised new restrictions to the discharge of untreated sewage into Tasmanian waters effective 1 November 2018. These restrictions were drafted signed of December 2013 a copy of the full signed EPA Sewer Management Directive is at the end of the news item.

The new restrictions apply to small boats carrying less than 16 people and are outlined in Part 3 of the Sewage Management Directive 2013.

Where possible, small boat owners are encouraged to contain any untreated sewage on their vessel until it can be disposed of at a pump-out station on land.

If land disposal is not possible, from 1 November boat owners will be able to:

1. Discharge urine into any waterway if it isn’t mixed with faeces:

AND

2. Discharge any sewage into seawater if:

• There aren’t any visible floating solids and it doesn’t cause any prolonged discolouration of the water;

AND the boat is:

• In water deeper than 5m
• More than 500m from any operating shellfish farm
• More than 1 nautical mile (1,852m) from any land including islands
• More than 120m from any person in the water
• Outside any marina, designated mooring area or canal
• Outside any marine resources protected area established under the Living Marine Resources Act 1995; and
• Outside any areas marked on the Boat Sewage Discharge maps available at https://epa.tas.gov.au/epa/water/boat-sewage-management