Tasmania’s upper house has called on the state government to consider live monitoring of sewage bypass events after campaigners found more than 635 million litres of under-treated waste entered waterways in a year.
Swimmers, rowers and fishers could one day check online before getting in the water under a proposal backed by the Legislative Council on Tuesday.
The motion was moved by independent Huon MLC Clare Glade-Wright, her first since winning the seat in May.
It calls on the state government to work with TasWater, the EPA, the Department of Health and local councils to consider funding real-time monitoring at all TasWater treatment plants and key bypass points.
The government is also being asked to consider a public live map and alert system and report back to parliament within six months on costs and timeframes.
Glade-Wright told the chamber the request was “reasonable” because Tasmanians already expect to be warned about other public safety risks.
“When there is a health risk in the water, people should not have to guess,” she said.
The motion follows Environment Tasmania’s ‘Map the Crap’ campaign, launched in June, which used TasWater records to map bypass events across the state.
A bypass happens when heavy rain or equipment failure overwhelms a treatment plant.
The sewage then skips secondary treatment, the biological stage of the process, before being discharged.
Environment Tasmania says the resulting waste can carry pathogens, nutrients and other contaminants.
The group’s freshwater campaigner Lucy Tremain said the vote showed politicians were listening to residents who signed a petition calling for real-time monitoring.
“This motion is a step in the right direction in prioritising the health of people and the environment,” she said.
The motion notes TasWater operates 110 sewage treatment plants and that only 10 meet all their environmental licence conditions, according to the utility’s 2024-25 annual performance report.
Glade-Wright said major upgrades in Launceston would take at least a decade and the community still needed protection in the meantime.
“This is a practical motion. It does not pretend that monitoring alone will fix old pipes or ageing treatment plants, but it will give Tasmanians the information they need to protect themselves and their families while the longer-term infrastructure work continues,” she said.
She pointed to event-duration monitors used widely in the United Kingdom, where beachgoers can check for nearby bypass events before they swim. Each device costs about $5,000.
More than 27 million litres of under-treated sewage was released above Cataract Gorge from the Prospect Vale plant in 2024-25, according to Environment Tasmania’s figures.
The group found Ti Tree Bend released more than 338 million litres into the Tamar River in the same year.
Nelson MLC Meg Webb called the online tool “an invaluable piece of civic society work” and urged the government not to let the six-month reporting deadline lapse.
Responding for the government, Leader in the Legislative Council Tania Rattray pointed to record investment in sewerage infrastructure and existing EPA notification rules.
Under those rules, TasWater alerts the regulator and councils then decide whether beaches need to be closed.
“No one wants to see sewage spills or bypass events affecting Tasmania’s waterways,” she said.
Rattray said the Derwent Estuary Program’s Beach Watch already monitors 19 swimming sites, with daily pollution forecasting added in 2024-25.
The motion is not binding and if the government does respond, a report would be due back in parliament by early March 2027.
