Western Water has been fined more than $7000 after discharging treated waste water into Jacksons Creek over a six-week period.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has confirmed that the water retailer was fined $7584 this month after class-C water was released from the Riddells Creek treatment plant, which services Macedon and Riddells Creek, in July.
The treated water is typically used for agricultural purposes, and testing done in the wake of the deliberate release found evidence of changes to the water environment downstream.
‘These were shown to have had a low impact,’’ EPA north-west manager Danny Childs said.
‘‘But this is a breach of Western Water’s EPA licence, which states that waste water from the premises must not be discharged to the environment.’’
Western Water customer and community relations manager Graham Holt said the EPA had been alerted prior to the discharge, which was part of a long-term recycled water plan more than a year in the making.
Mr Holt said the release was necessary because storages at the plant had filled up as demand fell away, with irrigators not needing the water due to good rains.
‘‘If Western Water had not released the water, there was a risk of uncontrolled spilling, which could have had an impact on the environment.’’
Mr Holt said local stakeholders had also been advised, and people using the waterways from July would not have experienced any ill-effects, with quality staying within the recreational limits required by legislation.
‘‘We worked hard to ensure the recycled water was released in a controlled way to minimise changes to water quality,’’ Mr Holt said.
‘‘This was helped by increased natural flows in the river from rainfall.’’
About 0.6 megalitres was released each day, close to one-tenth of flows at the time.
Mr Holt said Western Water had introduced interim measures to manage low demand for recycled water.
A review of recycled water management is also under way.
