Trade wastewater fees

What you'll need to pay for 

The fees for your trade waste discharge helps cover the cost of safely managing and treating it. These charges are set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) and apply from 1 October 2025 to 30 June 2026.

Two types of fees

Trade wastewater is wastewater produced at industrial or commercial properties that contains pollutants at a concentration higher than the domestic equivalent. If you're producing trade wastewater, you must have a commercial permit or industrial consent. Your charges depend on whether you're a commercial or industrial property and are made up of 2 parts: management fees and waste quality charges.

Management fees

This is a summary of management fees that cover our administration, monitoring, sampling and inspection costs. Some fees apply quarterly and some are applied as relevant.

• Quarterly fee is based on the maximum of 92 days. Quarters with fewer days will cost less.
• Liquid waste charge is based on the maximum 92 days. Quarters with fewer days will cost less. If you have a grease trap, you must have a Wastesafe transporter clean it out, at the frequency we set. This charge is for administration. You will pay your wastesafe transporter for cleaning your grease trap, transporting the grease and treating the waste at the treatment facility.
• Application fees are tiered based on the complexity of the trade wastewater requirements for each business. These charges reflect the hours required to process each application.
• Variation fees cover the cost of validating and processing changes to an existing approval. You may request a variation once every 6 months.
• Additional inspection fees apply when we need to do more than the planned inspections (included in the permit or consent fees). These inspections can be to monitor trade waste discharge or to ensure a customer complies with requirements.

Waste quality charges

We've characterised the quality of trade wastewater from commercial customers by sampling groups with similar processes. We've used this information to calculate the cost of treating that trade wastewater. Each process is assigned a dollar per kilolitre ($/kL) charge. Where the property is separately metered we will, if possible, apply a discharge factor, to determine how much trade wastewater is discharged. Where the property is not separately metered, we assess how much is discharged, based on a representative sample of similar businesses.

For our industrial customers, we've calculated the additional costs of treating each substance. The rate also depends on what type of water resource recovery facility your trade wastewater will be treated at. Each substance discharged has a dollar per kilogram ($/kg) charging rate. For substances with a 'domestic equivalent', we'll deduct the mass of substances up to the equivalent domestic mass to determine the chargeable trade waste mass.

We do not charge for ammonia, sulphate, total dissolved solids and non-domestic pollutants, such as metals, chlorinated phenolics and petroleum hydrocarbons. However, we set and enforce acceptance standards for each substance. Exceeding acceptance standards can adversely impact the beneficial reuse of biosolids and recycled water quality. It can also threaten staff safety and the environment.

Commercial permit waste quality charges

We've characterised the quality of trade wastewater from commercial customers by sampling groups with similar processes. We've used this information to calculate the cost of treating that trade wastewater. Each process is assigned a dollar per kilolitre ($/kL) charge.

* If the pre-treatment is not installed, is undersized, or is poorly maintained, we may apply higher charges.

Industrial consent quality charges

Your quality charges depend on where your trade wastewater will be treated.
 

Discharge to water resource recovery facilities providing primary treatment

A primary water resource recovery facility provides simple treatment involving screening, settling and flotation to treat wastewater.

If you discharge to a facility providing primary treatment, these charges may apply. Find out what level of treatment is provided at your water resource recovery facility. Each substance has a dollar per kilogram ($/kg) charging rate.

Discharge to water resource recovery facilities providing secondary or tertiary treatment

A secondary water resource recovery facility treats wastewater using screening, settling, flotation and bacterial decomposition. A tertiary water resource recovery facility treats wastewater using screening, settling, flotation, bacterial decomposition and nutrient removal.

If you discharge to a facility providing secondary or tertiary treatment, these charges may apply. Find out what level of treatment is provided at your water resource recovery facility. Each substance has a dollar per kilogram ($/kg) charging rate.

Discharge to systems affected by odour and corrosion

If you discharge to a wastewater system affected by accelerated odour and corrosion, these additional charges may apply.

For a complete list of acceptance standards and charging rates, visit Industrial acceptance standards and charging rates.