Case Study: Manningham City Council achieves accurate septic-system mapping and improved water quality with Trimble GeoXH GPS and GIS solutions

Manningham City Council Improves Water Quality and Educates Public about Septic System Maintenance with GPS Mapping

Manningham City Council, serving a growing community near Melbourne, faced an outdated paper-based septic records system—4,620 residential and commercial systems documented on incomplete index cards after council amalgamations—which made monitoring, protecting waterways, and educating property owners difficult. The council needed an accurate, up-to-date database to track system condition and components and to support proactive maintenance and regulatory requirements.

The council deployed Trimble GeoXH submeter-capable handhelds with ESRI ArcPad in the field and Trimble GPS Analyst in the office, enabling a single officer to precisely map tanks, pumps, filters and disposal areas and capture maintenance attributes. The program halved field staffing needs, produced significant cost and workforce savings, integrated more than 2,000 systems into the corporate GIS to date, and improved homeowner information and proactive inspection and notification processes.

Manningham City Council

Jason Davey

GIS/GPS Coordinator