Sewage charge
Service description
Sewage charges and sewage contributions are levied on the basis of local authority by-laws. The amounts vary from place to place.
As a property owner, the sewage contribution is a one-off payment towards the costs of constructing or upgrading the overall infrastructure of the local authority or the sewage association.
The sewage charge is payable on an ongoing basis for the service provided (discharge and treatment of sewage). It covers the costs of disposing of wastewater and rainwater.
There are volume-based charges and basic charges.
The basis for the volume-based charge is drinking water consumption. If the wastewater charge is split into a sewage charge and a rainwater charge under the terms of the bylaws, the rainwater charge is essentially calculated on the basis of the sealed area of the property. In addition, many water authorities levy a basic charge to cover costs that are not consumption-related.