Application for a Water / Wastewater / Stormwater Connection
Anyone wishing to connect to a Taupo District Council reticulated water, wastewater or stormwater system shall make application using the attached form. No connection shall be made before permission is granted.
More information and application for a Water/Wastewater/Stormwater Connection
Background
The Taupo District Council (referred to as Council in this document) has the responsibility to manage the community’s water services systems through its staff, in the best interests of the community.
This involves protecting and maintaining Council assets and ensuring that any new connections comply with agreed standards. These have been established to ensure that what gets built is fit for purpose and consistent with community requirements, as is recorded in Council’s Code of Practice for Development Standards (referred to as the Code in this document), and that it will not require on-going unnecessary and expensive maintenance.
Council also needs to make sure that the proposed additions will not result in the capacities of the systems to which the connection is sought being exceeded, so that existing users are not adversely affected, or that unsafe or unhygienic situations arise. It should be noted that stormwater pipe systems are not designed to handle all storm situations. Storms greater than certain design events will result in some surface flooding, ideally down predetermined overland flow paths. Apart from certain areas identified in the District Plan, stormwater from individual properties is generally expected to be disposed of within the boundaries, or into natural watercourses, in which case discharge will be subject to resource consent conditions from Regional Council (generally Environment Waikato for Taupo District.)
There are likely to also be issues of quality involved and Council needs to be sure that:
- drinking water cannot get contaminated
- nothing toxic or otherwise interfering with treatment processes is allowed into wastewater systems. This includes rainwater and ground seepage water, which can overwhelm pipe
capacities as well as reduce the efficiency of treatment processes.
- nothing toxic including wastewater is allowed into stormwater drains. Council is required to operate Stormwater Catchment Management Plans to comply with Discharge Consents granted
by Regional Council. These will need to cover all aspects of stormwater management to ensure compliance with the Resource Consents.
It should be noted that someone connecting illegally or introducing inappropriate substances into Council Service mains can be fined under the Local Government Act 2002, Water Supply Protection Regulations 1961 and Health Act 1956.
Where connections involve working in or close to a public road or in hazardous situations (for example in deep trenches or close to other services), Council is also required to make sure that proper onsideration is given to maintaining the safety of the general public and people carrying out the work.
All this requires that Council is in the position to be able to manage where and how connections are made to its Water, Wastewater and Stormwater services – hence the need for this application form.
It should be noted that sewer connections carrying trade wastes will require special consideration outside the scope of the available document and these will be referred to Council’s Wastewater Engineer