Recently I was asked by a Queensland local government authority for advice about setback distances from a watercourse for an on-site domestic wastewater system. A site assessor engaged by the property owner had recommended a minimum setback distance of 5m. The Queensland Plumbing and Wastewater Code (2011) required a 50m minimum setback, but permitted an […]
Read more…Designing for failure?
An assessment report by a Tasmanian wastewater designer came my way recently. His wastewater design consisted of a septic tank (primary effluent) discharging via a splitter box to two standard trenches each 20m long, 2m wide and 0.6m deep.
Read more…Nice Tasmanian rockfall
Our shack at Spring Beach in eastern Tasmania is on a coastal cliff of Triassic-age sandstone. We’ve been holidaying there for 35 years, and though sand and silt and small pieces of stone fall every day from the cliff, I’ve never seen a bigger rock fall than this one. And I wasn’t there when it […]
Read more…Another search for the Tasmanian Tiger!
Here we go again, and I wish them luck. The Tasmanian Mercury newspaper’s front page story of 30 October 2013 featured an international team from the United Kingdom which is planning a series of searches in Tasmania’s wilderness for the elusive (some would say, extinct) Tasmanian Tiger, or thylacine. The team’s searches will, it is […]
Read more…Query from New York State about bottomless sand filters
An assessor from Syracuse in the US noticed my discussion paper on bottomless sand filters (BSFs) and was asking about filter sand specifications and maximum slope angles for such installations. Richard Mason from Sorell Council has done more work on BSFs than anyone in Tasmania and I asked him to join the on-line discussion. The […]
Read more…Contrary to some opinions, Trench® is not outdated
Trench®, born in 1999 and created using Microsoft’s Excel, was designed loosely around Australian Standard 1547:1994 Disposal Systems for effluent from domestic premises. If you are assessing sites for domestic wastewater in Tasmania, you will know the software has become an industry standard here. It’s used in some mainland states, too – notably Queensland, where […]
Read more…Presenting this website at an EHA seminar
Mark Dwyer (National and State President, Environmental Health Australia) has invited me to present and talk about this website at an EHA professional development seminar at the Grange, Campbell Town, on December 4. I’ll be continually adding new content to the site before the seminar, and will be covering issues such as the recently adopted […]
Read more…Exploring two geological world heritage sites
Just returned from a month touring in the UK, and made a point of stopping at Knockan Crag in the desolate, beautiful Scottish Highlands to climb up to, and poke my finger in, the Moine Thrust. Exciting. This is one of the most famous and studied geological outcrops on earth — its interpretation as a […]
Read more…Have you received bad geotechnical advice?
Almost 10 years ago, at an Australian Geomechanics Society meeting, I lamented how bad some Tasmanian “expert practitioners” were at doing soil testing and classification for houses. Mostly, like bad doctors, their work goes unchallenged – until something goes wrong. Recently, when providing a second opinion about a house site to a client, I was […]
Read more…Coastal cliffs and high resolution photogrammetry
I am facilitating a PhD research project by the School of Geography and Environmental Studies funded by a local Council in southern Tasmania. The residential area is known for large-scale, slow-moving landslides but the extent and rate of recession of adjacent coastal cliffs is unclear.
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