Resource Consent Monitoring

Farms that dispose of FDE under resource consent are also inspected at least annually to check for compliance with the conditions of the consent. Water quality samples are taken from any water body receiving treated effluent.

Three samples are taken - one upstream of the discharge (the control), one from the point of discharge and one from downstream of the discharge (also called the ‘consent compliance site'). The water quality at the consent compliance site must meet the water quality conditions contained in the resource consent.

The pie graph below gives the monitoring results from 2008-09 as a percentage of the total number of farms inspected.