Environmental Management Policy

Purpose. This policy sets the environmental commitments of CAQA ClearFlow Water for wastewater discharge, recycled water, sewer spills, chemical storage, catchment protection and water extraction.

1.Commitment

CAQA ClearFlow Water will comply with the Environment Protection Act 2017 (Victoria), its operating licence for the Mooroopna wastewater treatment plant, the bulk entitlement and groundwater licence conditions under the Water Act 1989 (Victoria) and the general environmental duty. The business will prevent harm to the river, groundwater and land from its activities so far as reasonably practicable.

2.Licence compliance

Treated effluent discharged or reused must meet the limits in the operating licence for biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, nutrients, E. coli and pH. Recycled water supplied to the pasture scheme must meet the class and use conditions in the licence and the recycled water agreement. Monitoring results must be recorded in the Water Quality Sampling Register and reported to the regulator on the licence schedule. Any exceedance must be reported to the regulator and recorded in the incident register.

3.Sewer spills and overflows

Any sewage spill to land or water must be contained, cleaned up and reported to the environmental regulator and, where it reaches a waterway, to the health regulator and downstream users. Crews must sample upstream and downstream of any spill to water and record the volume, duration and cause on the incident register.

4.Chemical and fuel storage

Treatment chemicals, fuels and oils must be stored in bunded areas that hold at least the volume of the largest container. Bulk deliveries of hypochlorite, alum and fluoride must follow the chemical delivery procedure with an operator present. Spill kits must be located at every storage and dosing point.

5.Catchment and extraction

Raw water extraction must stay within the bulk entitlement and bore licence volumes, metered and reported monthly. Catchment surveillance will identify pollution sources, stock access and algal blooms and report them to the catchment and storages team for action.

6.Review

This policy will be reviewed annually and after any licence non-compliance or environmental incident.