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Liquid trade waste
Businesses proposing to discharge liquid trade waste into a Council sewer must obtain prior approval. Find information on fees and charges exceptions and the application process.

What is liquid trade waste (LTW)?

Liquid trade waste is a liquid waste produced by a business, commercial or industrial activity discharged to a sewerage system.

It excludes domestic waste from a hand washbasin, shower, bath or toilet. It also excludes stormwater and unpolluted water. LTW includes liquids from:

  • industrial premises
  • business or commercial premises such as a café, hotel, motel, restaurant, butcher or supermarket
  • community/public premises such as schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and nursing homes
  • trade activities such as a mechanical workshop
  • any commercial activities carried out at a residential premises
  • saleyards and racecourses
  • septic tank waste, chemical toilet waste, waste from marine pump-out facilities and establishing sites for the discharge of pan content from mobile homes and caravans to the sewerage system.

While septic tanks, pan and ship-to-shore pump-out wastes are defined as trade waste, specific procedures need to be applied to their management as the waste is often transported from its source to the sewerage system.

Classification and categories

Liquid trade waste discharges are divided into four risk or volume related classifications. Council’s approval process varies depending on the type of classification. See Liquid Trade Waste Classifications and Categories fact sheet for further information. 
 

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