Farm dairy effluent

You need a resource consent under the Fresh Water Plan before you can discharge farm dairy effluent.

This situation applies regardless of whether you have an oxidation pond system or apply the effluent to land.

Prohibited
Prohibited.

You must not, under any circumstances, discharge untreated farm dairy effluent to streams, rivers, or lakes.

If you are applying for a consent to discharge effluent to a stream (after the effluent has been treated in some way, such as in an oxidation pond system), then your application will be granted as long as you can meet certain conditions, which include:Dairy effluent ponds.

  • That you must not be discharging into any of the significant wetlands that are listed in the Fresh Water Plan (see Wetlands page).
  • That you need to make sure that there is sufficient water available in the stream to dilute the effluent (a dilution rate of 100 parts of water to one part of effluent is required)
  • Water quality standards that must be met downstream from your discharge.

The Taranaki Regional Council will assess your application and if your proposed discharge meets the standards, your application will be automatically approved. If not, then the Council will look more carefully at the application and consider the environmental effects before deciding whether to grant the consent. They may talk to you about ways to improve your effluent disposal system.

Dairy effluent spraying. If you are applying for a consent to discharge farm dairy effluent to land, then again your application will be approved as long as it is clear that:

  • None of the effluent will reach surface water.
  • The discharge is more than 25 m from any surface water.
  • The discharge is more than 50m away from any water supply well or spring.
  • Less than 200 kg of effluent nitrogen is applied to each hectare of land, each year.

The Fresh Water Plan contains design and operational guidelines for oxidation pond systems and land application of farm dairy effluent.

With regard to odour, you do not need a resource consent as long as:

  • The spray irrigation or the ponds only contain effluent from your farm.
  • No spray or offensive smells drift on to neighbouring properties.
  • The spraying or the ponds are more than 150 m from any house (or other inhabited building).
  • Ponding does not occur for more than three hours.

If you cannot meet any of these requirements, then you will need to apply for a resource consent (air discharge permit).
REFER TO FRESH WATER PLAN FOR EFFLUENT DISCHARGE TO LAND OR WATER REFER TO AIR QUALITY PLAN FOR ODOUR

In addition to the requirements under the two regional plans, you will also need to comply with any dairy industry requirements. For example, effluent ponds must be at least 45m away from the farm dairy, and if human waste is being disposed of through the effluent system, then you must get written approval from Fonterra.