When Yvonne Tasker moved to Shepparton seven years ago and started building her house she noticed a foul smell.
She put the off-putting scent down to localised sewerage works, a quirk of a new development.
"It was quite concerning even then, it's like, 'what have we stepped into, this is supposed to be a really lovely part of Shepparton, an elite part of Shepparton, what have we got ourselves in for here?'," Ms Tasker said.
"We were just desperately hoping, to begin with, it was just a one-off isolated occurrence, but no, far from it."
She says the strong and frequent smell has continued and double glazing has not kept the smell out of her home.
She also had to install a split system air conditioner as her evaporative unit invited the scents in.
Ms Tasker said she had generally stopped having friends around but on the weekend her brother and sister-in-law visited.
"They were just gobsmacked," she said.
"I think they thought I might have been exaggerating but it was dreadful. So we took them out for the day to get them away from the putrid smells.
"We went to Mansfield breathing beautiful fresh air, lovely day, but when we went to get back in the car, the car was still containing the sewage odours and everyone noticed it, it was really overpowering."
Even ancient Romans dealt with problem
The sewage smell is neither a new problem nor just a Shepparton problem.
Australian sewage treatment facilities such as Werribee have made great strides in engineering their way to more acceptable odour levels.
The Romans first found ways to get their sewage out of town in 800BC.
In Shepparton, complaints don't go back that far but it has been a recurring issue for some 20-30 years.
Local water authority Goulburn Valley Water is ramping up efforts to tackle the problem.
"We've had some quite significant odour through town and that's not something we're shying away from, it's absolutely there and we're working hard to try and get it rectified," operations manager Daniel Flannagan said.
In 2020, the water authority commissioned an independent report from environmental engineers, and, in May 2021, a new high-rate anaerobic lagoon cover was installed, costing about $10 million.
"We did see a reduction [in smell] from when the cover was off, but like any sewage treatment plant, when we get the certain conditions, we do still see intermittent odours here and there," Mr Flannagan said.
Some North Shepparton residents contest the level of odour reduction from the $10 million initiative, like Silvio Fontana who lives in the Boulevard Estate, 3.7 kilometres from Shepparton's wastewater facility.
"The events, when they happen, are as intense as what they were some 15 to 20 years ago," Mr Fontana said.
Residents, water authority meet
Residents and Goulburn Valley Water representatives met this week to talk through concerns about the odour.
Mr Flannagan said there were three main approaches to engineering away the stench.
The first is to capture the gas with the new cover, to generate electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The second is to address localised odour at the inlet, while the third is to optimise the aerated lagoon, enabling bacteria to chew through more waste more efficiently.
"So what we saw over the last few weeks, the distance that that odour travelled was very unexpected, is very abnormal and is definitely a result of the unique conditions we've seen," he said.
"We've seen a process which is struggling at the back end of winter. We've seen certain weather conditions which have allowed that odour to build up, and then we've seen a slow-moving wind which has pushed that odour right across town into larger portions than we would normally expect."
Engineering away odours
Air quality scientist Andrew Balch said reducing the smell would be expensive.
A short-term solution the authority is employing to reduce odours is chemical treatment, which costs $15,000 a week.
Mr Balch described the method as "literally throwing money down the toilet" and suggested an engineering solution was needed.
"They shouldn't smell that bad if they're managed well. You can't expect wastewater not to smell but you can manage it to alleviate the impact on the community," he said.
Ms Tasker said that some of her neighbours' friends and family are already saying "stinky Shepparton," and it's not really a reputation that she, nor probably anyone from Shepparton, wants or deserves.
"We live in a beautiful area, and we just want to enjoy our lifestyle, to be able to go outside, have barbecues, have friends around, and just enjoy the great Australian outdoor lifestyle. "
