New figures from Land Information New Zealand (Linz) reveal up to 600kg of rubbish was collected daily from Lake Dunstan freedom camping sites at times last summer.
A report this week from the agency that manages the lakeside campsites on behalf of Linz, Colliers International, said about 300kg of rubbish in total was collected daily from the Bendigo, Lowburn and Champagne Gully campsites at times during March.
The report, which was presented to the Central Otago District Council's community service meeting, said freedom camping areas had been in high demand during summer.
A spokesman said the 300kg figure was an estimate for daily amounts collected for March. In fact, up to 600kg of rubbish could be ''picked up on a really busy day during the summer months''.
The figures related to areas around the lake including, but not limited to, the Bendigo, Lowburn and Champagne Gully areas.
No other detail could be provided about the types of rubbish being collected.
The spokesman said the ''contractor presence'' had ''recently increased'' to monitor the toilet facilities and collect rubbish at popular spots.
The Colliers report earlier this week said the septic tank at the Bendigo site had overflowed and the toilets were closed to allow the ground to desaturate. Five Portaloos had since been installed.
A new septic tank would be designed and built at the site, but camper numbers would be gauged first and a counter might be installed to find out how many visitors were there a day.
