Sewage Pollution Risk Assessment for Environmental Health

Government The tremendous potential for Geographic Information Systems to benefit the management of environmental health is progressively being realised. This paper summarises a new approach to mapping the risks associated with on-site sewage facilities. One of the many intended applications is to help predict and thereby manage sources of pathogens contributing to health issues. Over 284,000 on-site sewage facilities exist in NSW of which around 50–90 % fail or perform inefficiently. Incidents including contamination of drinking water and aquatic food industries from failing facilities has led to the need for improved tools to manage current and future risks. This paper summarises the On-site Sewage Risk Assessment System (OSRAS) developed by Brown & Root Services for the NSW Department of Local Government. State agencies contributed data and information to case studies undertaken in the Blue Mountains and Eurobodalla. The OSRAS provides a system for classification of natural resource and other dat