For the wastewater sector

Wastewater networks are defined in the Water Services Act 2021 as those networks operated by councils (or their subsidiaries), government departments and the New Zealand Defence Force. Our tools only apply to these networks. Privately owned wastewater systems and very small networks are captured by Standard AS/NZS 1547:2012.

We can do a range of things to support improvements in infrastructure and the environmental performance of wastewater networks. 

• Developing national standards such the Wastewater Environmental Performance Standards, National Engineering Design Standards and Infrastructure Design Solutions.
• Setting Network Environmental Performance Measures – Operators must monitor and report on environmental performance measures for wastewater networks to better understand and manage environmental and public health risks. You can find more information on the Network Environmental Performance pages. 
• Requiring Wastewater Network Risk Management Plans – These plans can be required under section 139 of the Water Services Act (following a notice is issued in the Gazette). When required, they must align with any relevant wastewater standards or targets and must be reviewed at least every five years. 
• Developing Wastewater Environmental Performance Targets – Targets may be developed in future to further support improvements, once sufficient performance data becomes available. 

We work closely with regional councils, water service providers and the water sector on wastewater. Each of these stakeholders has responsibilities for asset management and design, environmental planning, resource consents and related monitoring and enforcement.