Appropriate design and daily operation of effluent disposal from facilities requiring an environmental authority are critical to the overall success of the facility. Typical establishment costs for wastewater disposal areas are of the order to $4,000 to $8,000 per hectare. For projects with flows of around 500 KL/day an establishment cost for the disposal system of over $250,000 is not uncommon. Much of this investment is in command systems/pipelines, pumps, land development and crop establishment. Depending on the wastewater quality, these assets normally depreciate over a five to fifteen year period. Our experience, however, is that the main factors affecting the rate of write off and hence the need for further expenditure are on-ground operation practices and the adequacy of the initial design and specifications.
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Whilst poor design and operational procedures will ultimately be reflected in higher operation costs and actual depreciation, they also have serious implications for license compliance. Inappropriate irrigation equipment/methods/practice or inappropriate operation of storages may increase odour, aerosol drift and runoff as well as increase soil degradation and reduce crop yields, even when an adequate EMIS/EMP has been prepared. |