Fecal coliform samples at the Dartmouth plant don't meet requirements.(CBC)

The sewage treatment plant in Dartmouth is not meeting required effluent targets, says an official with the municipality's water commission.

Carl Yates, general manager of Halifax Water, said Thursday that levels of fecal coliform and other discharges have improved since earlier this year but still aren't good enough.

"Quite simply, the plant is still not meeting the contract specifications or the Nova Scotia environmental regulations that the plant is expected to meet," he told CBC News.

"So basically, the commissioning or construction permit has been extended to recognize that we aren't there yet."

The Dartmouth plant has been operating since last July.

The effluent levels coming out of the plant were so bad earlier this year that municipal officials asked for — and received — an extra year to bring the plant into compliance with provincial environmental requirements.

The plant must meet discharge criteria 80 per cent of the time in three categories: fecal coliform, suspended solids and biological oxygen demand.

So far, only suspended solids are consistently meeting targets. Fecal coliform samples, on the other hand, meet the criteria just 72 per cent of the time.

Yates said efforts are underway to change this. It's highly probable, he said, that the plant will meet discharge levels before the permit expires at the end of the year.

Until that happens, the municipality won't take ownership of the Dartmouth plant, he said.

Yates maintains the plant is still making a difference in the quality of harbour water.

The $54-million sewage treatment plant across the harbour in Halifax has been out of commission since January. Since then, more than 80 million litres of raw sewage has been flowing into the harbour every day.