Pātai Putuputu
FAQs

No. Under Plan Change 14 Rotorua Regional Council will no longer issue new consents for septic tank systems or renew consents for existing septic tanks. The Local Government Act requires that properties connect to a reticulated wastewater system if one is provided.

No. The Local Government Act requires that properties connect to a reticulated wastewater system if one is provided.

A separate LPGP unit will be required for each household / dwelling on each property. An out-building (such as a granny flat or sleep-out) can discharge waste water into the LPGP of the dwelling it belongs to if it is practicable to do so. Larger dwellings, or dwellings with more than one household within them may be required to install a larger capacity ‘Duplex’ or ‘Quadplex’ LPGP unit.

Rotorua Lakes Council will service and repair the pressure sewerage installation on your Property and in the street. The Council is not responsible for the household plumbing that drains to the storage tank. Repairs to the property owner’s plumbing system (up to the connection to the LPGP storage tank) are at the owner’s expense, as are repairs for any other form of sewerage system.

You should use the toilet in the same way as you do for a septic tank or AWTS system. No nappies, sanitary napkins, tampons or wet wipes (including those that are marked as flushable) can be flushed through the LPGP system.

Rotorua Lakes Council can be called 24 hours for assistance. The operator will help you to resolve simple issues over the phone, and dispatch a contractor to your home if required. If the LPGP unit detects a fault, a red warning light will illuminate on the unit’s control box. The user instructions provided with the unit will describe what to do when this happens.

If your property is to be left unused for a significant period of time, the only thing you need to do is to flush water through the system to make sure that the pipe from your house to the street is clear of waste. Instructions on how to do this are provided with the unit.

You must make sure that clear instructions are left so that non-flushable items are not flushed into the system by your tenants. Signs and stickers will be available from Rotorua Lakes Council if you wish to display a warning adjacent to each sanitary fitting.

Discharge to land falls within the Bay Of Plenty Regional Council jurisdiction. It may be possible to install an interim wastewater system until the LPGP installation for the property is installed. Please contact Monique Ullyett at the BOP Regional Council to discuss your plans.

The scheme is partially funded by the Ministry for the Environment, Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council. The rest of the cost will be met by contributions from each property that will benefit from the scheme.

The financial contribution is broken down into 2 parts:
• Part 1: A share of the cost of installing the Tarawera network
• Part 2: The cost for installing the LPGP systems onto each property

The current design work being undertaken by TRILITY will determine the construction costs for each Part. Each property benefiting from the scheme will pay an equal share of the Part 1 and Part 2 contribution.

Properties with existing dwellings will pay both Part 1 and Part 2 contributions.

Undeveloped sections will pay Part 1 only. This would cover the section’s contribution to the cost of the network construction and would leave a connection point in the street pipe for any future installation. Part 2 would only become payable when the section is developed and an LPGP pump is connected to the network. The Part 2 amount to be paid at the time of development may be influenced by the cost of installation (construction market rates etc.) at the time it is done.

Payment options are currently being discussed through the Tarawera Wastewater Reticulation Funding Working Group (which includes representatives from the Tarawera community and Ratepayers). More information on payment options will be available in the near future.

This will be determined following completion of the detailed design process. Different installation methods may be required depending on the location and design requirements of the section of pipe being installed.

It offers the most viable option for all properties to comply with the BOPRC’s regulations and the lowest overall long-term cost for the benefiting home owners, supports mana whenua aspirations  as well as the Council’s long term network operations funded by the whole district.
 
The solution could be implemented quickly because resource consents would not be required and enables a measureable improvement in lake quality.
 
If reticulation did not happen BOPRC OSET rules would apply, requiring an advanced on-site wastewater system with nutrient reduction per site where that were possible. This is not physically possible for about 170 properties because of size, topography and other practical on-site conditions.
 
The cost of a compliant OSET system is approximately $28,000 -$35,000, to install plus ongoing consenting, operational, maintenance, repair and renewal costs. All costs for such systems would be the property owner’s responsibility from day one.
 
Ongoing costs for a reticulated scheme, after initial contribution from property owners, will be the responsibility of Rotorua Lakes Council, towards which all ratepayers in the district will contribute annually through their rates.

– Design – $1.5m
– Street piping and pump station – $13.5m (Approx value of Stage 1 construction contract)
– Property connections – $17m* (Price received for Stage 2 – seeking an alternative to procure and deliver)
Total: $30.5m

The scheme is partially funded by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC) and Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC). The rest of the cost will be met by contributions from the owner of each property that benefits from the scheme.
– MfE – $6.5m* (If used by December 2023)
– BOPRC – $750k
– RLC – $825k ($1500 contribution per property. RLC using balance sheet for upfront borrowings ($14 mil) to progress)
Total: $8,075,000m

Council continues to work with the Tarawera community to try and explore additional funding options above that already confirmed.

Similar schemes in the district were Crown Deed funded, MfE committed $72.1m in a Deed of Funding arrangement in 2005 for the four priority lakes only – Rotorua, Rotoehu, Rotoiti and Okareka. That Crown Funding included other interventions for water quality improvements on those targeted lakes that covered the BOPRC’s programmes in a rough order attribution of $32m to RLC and $40m to the BOPRC.
 
The Tarawera Sewerage Reticulation Scheme has been granted a separate $6.5m from MfE’s Freshwater Improvement Fund following an application jointly made by the Council and the community representatives.

Future operational, maintenance and renewal costs will be carried by all ratepayers in the district but the cost of constructing the scheme is to be paid on an equitable basis by the ratepayers who benefit – the same as similar schemes.

The actual cost (and associated contribution) will not be accurately known until construction is complete but properties with existing dwellings will pay both Part 1 and Part 2 contributions.

The financial contribution is broken down into two parts:
• Part 1: A share of the cost of installing the mains Tarawera network
• Part 2: The cost for installing the Low Pressure Grinder Pump (LPGP) systems on each property (costings subject to final construction procurement).

The design work being undertaken determines the estimated construction costs for each Part. Each property benefiting from the scheme will pay an equal share of the Part 1 and Part 2 contribution, subject to whether second and third dwellings on a single property are assessed on a %HUE basis.

A “%HUE” (HUE is ‘Housing Unit Equivalent”) assesses the size of second and third dwellings and determines how much of the Stage 2 cost will apply to them. 

Undeveloped sections will pay Part 1 only, covering the section’s contribution to the cost of the network construction and leaving a connection point in the road/street pipe for future installation.
 
Part 2 would become payable only if/when the section is developed and an LPGP pump is connected to the network. The Part 2 amount to be paid at the time of development may be influenced by the cost of installation (construction market rates etc.) at the time it is done.
 
Discharge to land falls within the BOPRC jurisdiction. It may be possible to install an interim wastewater system until the LPGP installation for the property is installed. Please contact Monique Ullyett at BOPRC to discuss.
 
RLC is carrying this unfunded cost on its debt until new properties connect to the scheme over future years and the then property owners pay their contributions.

While a reasonable price difference (aligned with NZ standard CGPI pricing index) was expected between the 2018 concept estimate and the current 2022 estimate, the magnitude of price variance for Stage 2 of the scheme was too significant to accept without further interrogation and more rigorous testing of the construction market.
 
The actual cost (and associated contribution) will not be known until the final construction is complete.

If the current price offer for Stage 2 were accepted, the total capital cost to Tarawera property owners could increase to approximately $45,000 per dwelling.
 
The two-stage approach will allow Stage 1 to progress within the time window required by the MfE (safeguarding the $6.5m funding), while allowing Council to undertake further work to bring Stage 2 pricing closer to an acceptable level.

To get such an agreement, special consultation with the wider district would need to be undertaken for incorporation into the Long-term Plan (this would affect the MfE funding, current construction quotes and add years to the project).

Other communities had to fund their own contributions so it’s possible the wider community would not support this.

Council’s policy is to share such costs equally across all beneficiaries. If property owners want to install all or some of Stage 2 themselves, all property owners would need to agree to it, otherwise the loss of equal contribution would have to be carried by the remaining properties.

Council has based the estimate on 550 household units (currently 446 units) to allow for reasonably foreseeable additional growth with Council debt funding the difference.

A separate LPGP unit will be required for each household / dwelling on each property. An out-building (such as a granny flat or sleep-out) can discharge wastewater into the LPGP of the dwelling it belongs to if this is practicable. Larger dwellings, or dwellings with more than one household within them may be required to install a larger capacity ‘Duplex’ or ‘Quadplex’ LPGP unit and will be charged accordingly.

Future operational, maintenance and renewal costs will be carried by all ratepayers in the district connected to council wastewater networks as part of wastewater targeted rate (an estimated extra $30-40 annually).

Council will service and repair the pressure sewerage installation on your property and in the street. The Council is not responsible for the household plumbing that drains to the storage tank. Repairs to the property owner’s plumbing system (up to the connection to the LPGP storage tank) are at the owner’s expense, as are repairs for any other form of sewerage system.

Payment options were discussed through the Tarawera Wastewater Reticulation Funding Working Group (which included representatives from the Tarawera community). The modified repayment plan now allows repayment of the targeted capital rate over a period of 10 years after the completion of the project. Earlier schemes experience indicates that some 50% of the benefiting property owners opted to pay the upfront lump sum with the remaining paying a targeted capital rate over an extended period of time.
 
More information on payment options will be available in the near future.

A significant component of the Stage 1 construction involves the installation of piping under the roadway.  ‘Directional drilling’ will be used to minimise disruption to the road surface which will in-turn minimise disruption to traffic flow. However, directional drilling equipment requires space to operate and localised traffic management will be in place as necessary.
 
We will be communicating with residents to keep them informed of progress and what to expect, each step of the way.

Stage 1 -Construction of the sewerage mains network which comprises all equipment that is installed into the street to collect sewage from each property and transport it to the Lake Okareka Pump Station. (Approximately 24km of pressure pipelines, pump stations, electrical systems, fibre connections and testing).
 
Stage 2 – Connection of all properties to the sewerage mains network. This includes decommissioning of existing sewerage systems, installation of Low Pressure Grinder Pumps and connection from each property to the sewerage mains network. (440 LPGPs, 44kms of pipelines, electrical, alarms and grounds reinstatement).

Section 459 of the Local Government Act (1974) allows Council to compel properties to connect to a public sewer if one is provided.

In addition, the Regional Council OSET Rule requires properties to obtain a consent to keep their existing treatment system no longer than three months after a reticulation system becomes available. It is understood that BOPRC is unlikely to grant such consents when reticulation is available. If no consent is obtained, the BOPRC can issue the property owner with an abatement notice (to stop using their own system) or an Environment Court enforcement order.

Data from property surveys undertaken by the BOPRC confirms, 40 percent of properties (approx. 170) would not be able to due to size, topography and other practical on-site conditions.