Our wastewater services

Yass Sewage Treatment Plant

The Yass Sewage Treatment Plant commenced its operation in March 2010, with the old treatment plant, built in 1935, decommissioned. The new plant is capable of treating sewage for 6,800 Equivalent Population (EP) and has the facility for future expansion for 10,800 EP. 

Council has plans to utilise a portion of the effluent to irrigate the playing fields around town.

Discharged Effluent Quality from Yass STP
Treated effluent produced by Yass STP meets the Sensitive Water Standards and has been discharged to the Yass River since March 2010. This plant operates under the Environment Protection Licence 1730.


Murrumbateman Sewerage Scheme

Construction of the Murrumbateman Sewerage Scheme was completed in May 2016. The project cost $8.6 million, with $1.845 million subsidised by the NSW Government as part of their Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program. This Scheme provides an increased amenity for the village of Murrumbateman and creates further opportunities for village expansion and lifestyle improvement.

Murrumbateman Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) uses a pond based system to treat sewage and has a capacity to serve 1,500 EP (equivalent population). It is designed to utilise treated effluent stored in a Storage Pond of 70 ML for irrigation. Three irrigation areas (10 ha each) are designated for that purpose.

Irrigation Reuse System
Construction of the irrigation system began in July 2024 and spans over 10 hectares of land within the STP premises; incorporating approximately 6km of recycled water mains, 256 sprinkler heads and over 1.3km of control wires the system can irrigate up to 250kL per day to comply with the requirements of EPA Licence.

The irrigation system further includes fail-safe controls such as automatic soil moisture sensors, wind speed sensors and rain gauges to prevent over watering and runoff to nearby water ways, or over spraying outside the designated irrigation area.

Effluent Quality from Murrumbateman STP
Yass Valley Council operates this Scheme under the EPA Licence No. 20844. Effluent discharge from STP to the river is permitted during extreme wet weather only. Monitoring of the effluent quality used for irrigation is required.