Defence National Environmental Standard
Standard for the Prevention and Management of Pollution From Wastewater
Quality information
DNES Approver / DNES Exemption Approver / DNES Owner / DNES Endorsers

This DNES takes effect from the Date of Issue

Document number / Date of Issue
Revision / Date of Next Revision

Terms, definitions and acronyms

Standard definitions for key terms (including acronyms where applicable) are included in the table below.

Table 1Key terms, definitions and acronyms

Term / Acronym (if applicable) / Definition
Australian and New Zealand Environmental Conservation Council / ANZECC / Independent body which prescribes the ANZECC 2000 guidelines for fresh and marine water quality
Base Services Contractor Environmental Manager / BSCEM / Provides ongoing administrative assistance, analysis and technical support on environmental matters to base services contractor.
Base Support Manager / BSM / Under the Base Accountabilities Model, a BSM is the DSRG representative accountable for delivery of base support management and services, including integrated delivery of agreed support services, for a given base.
Corrective action / Action to minimise and rectify the environmental harm resulting from an environmental incident and/or to eliminate the cause of a detected environmental non-conformance.
Defence Environmental Management System / EMS / The Defence EMS operates in support of the Defence Environmental Strategic Plan 2010-2014 and aims to deliver environmental services in an integrated and systematic manner to support ADF capability.
Defence Estate / Land owned, leased or used by the Department of Defence.
Defence National Environmental Standard / DNES / A set of quality or performance conditions specifying Defence’s minimum acceptable level of environmental management for an environmental factor, activity or process.
Directorate of Energy Efficiency and Resource Management / DEERM / Directorate within Environment and Engineering (E&E) branch of DSRG Infrastructure Division, responsible for policy and technical advice relating to energy efficiency and resource management, including pollution prevention.
Environment / Surroundings in which Defence personnel and its contractors operate, including air, water, land, natural resources, heritage, flora, fauna, humans, and their interrelation.
Environmental Clearance Certificate / ECC / Document that details a planned activity, mitigation measures relevant to the planned activity and sets out conditions to minimise the likelihood of significant environmental impacts arising. ECCs are used by exception in instances where the planned activity is not fully covered by existing operational controls.
Environmental Factor / A manageable and measurable environmental item that needs to be considered and/or actively managed due to Defence’s interest or obligation. The term replaces the previous concepts used within Defence of environmental values, environmental aspects, assets, areas of interest, areas of concern, and valued environmental components (VECs).
Government Furnished Facilities / GFF / Facilities built and owned by the Commonwealth entrusted to a contractor as part of a specific contract delivery arrangement
Incident / Any occurrence that can result in an impact or impacts on the environment. This includes incidents, complaints, near misses, observations and non-conformances.
Incident Form / Electronic Form linked to the Incident Register, where information on the incident and associated actions are recorded. The Incident Form comprises three parts:
-Part A: First stop form completed by Originator to capture initial information about an incident;
-Part B: Review and verification of initial information; and
-Part C: Form used to guide and document the findings of an investigation into an incident and prescribe subsequent actions.
Incident Register / A centralised, electronic management platform for the collation, storage and tracking of Incident information.
Non-conformance / An action or omission that did not meet Defence’s environmental operational controls including Defence Instructions, Defence Environmental Standards, Environmental Clearance Certificate conditions, Range Standing Orders, Standard Operating Procedures; or an action or omission that did not meet external conditions placed on Defence.
Notification Alert / An automated email or system notification to relevant stakeholders and decision makers describing the contents of the completed form or updated register.
Operational control (environmental) / Measures applied to activities, products and services to prevent, or reduce the extent of, environmental impact.
Personnel / Members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), members of the Australian Public Service (APS) employed by Defence, contractors/subcontractors and/or consultants performing work or providing services for Defence, and third parties or other visitors to the Defence Estate.
Regional Environment Officer / REO / Supports and represents the Senior Environment Manager at bases and groups of bases.
Senior ADF Officer / SADFO / Under the Base Accountabilities Model, the role of SADFO is an additional role for an appointed senior military officer on a given base. SADFOs are required to provide broad leadership to all military staff on the base, consistent with the Chief of Defence Force’s expectations of all senior ADF officers.
Senior Environment Manager / SEM / Senior professional advisor for environmental matters in a DSRG region, advising Defence personnel including senior Commanders and managers. Leads the environmental team and manages the regional implementation of national strategic programs.
Standard Operating Procedures / SOP / Operational control that specifies how a standard activity should be undertaken. This may include specific requirements to minimise WHS and environmental risks. Initial incident responses may also be detailed for certain activities.
Standing Orders / Operational control that provides enforceable instructions relevant to a Defence Property. Traditionally, environmental instructions are included as Chapter 13 in Range Standing Orders. Standing Orders may sometimes be referred to as Standing Instructions by some services.
Technical Authority / TA / Primary source of technical guidance for a given subject matter area.
Wastewater / WW / Sewage (backwater) from toilet wastes, andgreywater from other ablutions, mess activities or approved industrial sources
Water Sensitive Urban Design / WSUD / Use of purpose designed landscaping to improve reduce irrigation needs, increase water retention and improve runoff water quality

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Purpose

  1. The purpose of this DNES is to establish the minimum requirements for the prevention of pollution from wastewater. The purpose of this DNES is to set the minimum performance requirements for wastewater management and reuse on the Defence Estate.

Scope

  1. This DNES applies to all Defence Establishments including Government Furnished Facilities (GFF) operated by contractors on behalf of Defence.

Related Defence Standards

  1. Stormwater DNES (to be developed).
  1. Refer to the DNES Register on the Defence EMS Website for a list of all DNES and their current development status.

Performance Requirements

  1. The following minimum management and performance levels apply at the Defence Establishment level and are required to be actioned by appropriate site personnel. If a minimum performance level is not achievable it must be reported as such, consistent with reporting requirements contained within this DNES. If Defence Establishments are already meeting these minimum performance levels, there is no need for further action other than to ensure ongoing compliance.

Minimum Management Measures

  1. All Defence facilities with a wastewater management/treatment system must develop a Wastewater Management Plan if not already in force. The plan must be have a framework which has the following objectives:
  1. Safety of base personnel and of civilian population utilizing recycled water from the Defence estate
  1. Protection of Defence Wastewater Assets
  1. Protection of treatments processes
  1. Facilitation of regulatory and licence compliance
  1. Maximizing resource efficiency in wastewater management through the system lifecycle, including promoting water reuse where possible.
  1. In accordance with policy management principles, development and implementation of this plan will aim to ensure that:
  2. Wastewater volumes are minimized to as low as reasonably practicable (policy principle 1)
  1. Wastewater is collected and treated for re-use on-site wherever practical (policy principles 1 and 2 and 4)
  1. Wastewater that cannot be treated onsite is removed by an appropriately licensed contractor (policy principle 3)
  1. Wastewater from the sewage system or contaminated water from Defence activities mustnot discharge into the stormwater system (policy principle 5)
  1. Wastewater discharged to third party systems such as urban sewerage systems, must comply with all conditions imposed on the discharge, including monitoring and reporting requirements(policy principle 7)
  1. Waste streams which have pollutants in excess of typical wastewater (such as trade waste from industrial activities) must be prevented from entering the wastewater system (policy principle 8)
  1. Wastewater management systems are operated and maintained appropriately
  1. Where water re-use is not practical, wastewater release to the environment must meet ANZECC 2000 trigger values (policy principle9).

Minimum Performance Levels – Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure

  1. In accordance with policy management principle 1, management of safe reuse of wastewater must be based on the National Water Quality Management Strategy Australian Guidelines suite of documents for Water Recycling: Managing Health and Environmental Risks (2006) published by the NRMMC. This includes:
  1. Document 21a: A guide to the National guidelines for water recycling - National Water Quality Management Strategy: Overview of the Australian guidelines for water recycling: Managing health and environmental risks – 2008
  1. Document 21: Australian guidelines for water recycling: Managing health and environmental risks (Phase 1) – 2006
  1. Document 22: Australian guidelines for water recycling: Managing health and environmental risks (Phase 2) - Augmentation of drinking water supplies – 2008
  1. Document 24: Australian guidelines for water recycling: Managing health and environmental risks - Managed aquifer recharge – 2009.
  1. Design of new build wastewater systems will conform to Water Services Association of Australia National Codes for the Urban Water Industry and applicable Australian Standards including:
  1. AS/NZS 1546 suite related to on-site domestic wastewater treatment units
  1. AS/NZS 1547:2012 On-site domestic wastewater management
  1. AS/NZS 4494:1998 Discharge of commercial and industrial liquid waste to sewer - General performance requirements
  1. AS 2200-2006/Amdt 1-2009 Design charts for water supply and sewerage
  1. AS1940 Storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids.
  1. Management of wastewater systems will be based on the National Water Quality Management Strategy suite of documents ‘Guidelines for Sewerage Systems’ published by the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council (NRMMC) which includes:
  1. Document 11: Guidelines for Sewerage Systems – Effluent management
  1. Document 12: Guidelines for Sewerage Systems – Acceptance of Trade Waste (Industrial Waste)
  1. Document 13: Guidelines for Sewerage Systems – Sludge (Biosolids) Management
  1. Document 14: Guidelines for Sewerage Systems – Reclaimed Water
  1. Document 15: Guidelines for Sewerage Systems – Sewerage System Overflows.
  1. All wastewater pipework and discharge points must be clearly identified and colour coded to AS 1345-1995 Identification of the contents of pipes, conduits and ducts.
  1. Where wastewater discharges to urban sewerage systems, the wastewater must meet all licence conditions imposed on the discharge.
  1. ANZECC 2000 trigger values will be adopted for all water quality parameters where discharge to the environment occurs. Trigger values must be selected to reflect the natural water quality parameters of the receiving environment.
  1. Where ANZECC 2000 trigger values are being exceeded, or a likely to be exceeded, the management approach as outlined in the ANZECC 2000 will be used to identify environmental values, water quality guidelines and water quality objectives which will inform the development of appropriate water quality triggers. This will then guide the development of appropriate corrective actions.

Incident, Emergency and Non-Conformance

  1. All Defence personnel and contractorsare responsible to report any pollution event to the REO and their direct supervisor.
  1. In all incidents, priority must first be allocated to minimizing or preventing environmental impact before reporting is to take place.
  1. The REO shall be responsible for external reporting of any uncontained pollution event. Any significant spills leaving the site, deemed likely to impact human health or the environment, shall be actively managed and reported to the relevant State Environmental Protection Agency and other prescribed agencies at the legislated State notice period.
  1. Refer to DNES – EP3: Environmental Incident Management for general incident and non-conformance management requirements under the Defence EMS.
  1. Refer to Base Emergency Response Plans for additional base-specific incident and emergency management requirements.

Monitoring, Audit and Review

  1. A risk-based annual monitoring and reporting plan will be developed as part of the wastewater management process. This will identify all monitoring and reporting requirements including monitoring requirements within the sewerage reticulation system, the sewage treatment plan, and at any discharge point.
  1. Wastewater that is to be treated or re-used onsiteshall be monitoredfor pollutantsannually or other appropriate frequency; wastewater that is being removed by a contractor does not require pollutant monitoring.
  1. Water for offsite discharge shall be tested to ensure discharge meets ANZECC 2000 Guidelines annually or other appropriate frequency to maintain safety orenvironmental values of receiving waters.
  1. Auditing and monitoring and analysis reports must be performed annually by a Defence accredited auditor.

Reporting

  1. Reporting is to be against the minimum performance levels contained above. Reporting is to be brief and factual and to consist of the following:
  1. A qualitative estimate of per cent compliance with each Minimum Performance Requirement
  2. Actions outstanding per performance requirement that are needed to reach 100% compliance
  3. A short summary of any pollution incidents and their causes
  1. Reporting should be in accordance with existing periodic environmental reporting practices.
  1. A regular annual report will be provided to the SEM and then to DEERM for each Wastewater Management Plan. This will provide an update on the delivery of the plan, the status of any construction/upgrade activities, details of the completed maintenance regime, and any water quality and quantity data collected. This will include an assessment of water re-use volumes if applicable.
  1. All wastewater spills and incidents must be reported to the SEM or REO for assessment as to whether a significant impact is likely.
  1. General reporting requirements under the Defence EMS are addressed in other DNES – refer to the Defence Environmental Standards Register (published on EMS Intranet Site).

User feedback

  1. Personnel are encouraged to provide feedback on this DNES. Feedback will be used to inform future versions of this document, which is reviewed at regular intervals as part of the Defence EMS continual improvement process.
  1. Provide any feedback on this DNES via email to . Please include the DNES title in the subject line of email/feedback.

Useful references

A selection of useful references is provided below. This is not an exhaustive list.

CH2MHILL (2005) Environmental Manager’s Guide Sewerage Treatment Plants, Department of Defence

Department of Defence (No Date) Wastewater and Stormwater Management Position Paper, Department of Defence.

National Water Quality Management Strategy suite of documents:

New South Wales Licensing guidelines for sewage treatment plants:

Tasmanian emission limit guidelines for sewage treatment plants:

Water directorate manuals for sewer reticulation and sewer treatment plants:

Water Services Association of Australia National Codes background:

Queensland wastewater code guidelines:

Victorian EPA Code of Practice for Small Wastewater Treatment Plants:

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