Consortium wins US$ 73.5 million reuse contract near Melbourne

A consortium of Kellogg Brown & Root, John Holland and Montgomery Watson Harza has been awarded the contract to design and construct the Aus$ 90 million (US$ 73.5 million) Northern Water Plant in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, Australia.

The wastewater reuse project will take in domestic sewage from Geelong’s northern suburbs and supply Shell with recycled water. It will produce Class A recycled water, safe for human contact and suitable for industrial and agricultural use.

The Northern Water Plant will be built, owned and operated by Barwon Water and is a joint project between Barwon Water and Shell. The project is jointly funded with Aus$ 9.2 million from the Victorian Government, Aus$ 20 million from the Commonwealth, Aus$ 45 million from Shell and Aus$ 16 million from Barwon Water. It will create up to 100 jobs during construction and be completed in 2012.

At this stage the design provides for two fit-for-purpose streams of recycled water:

  • 700 m³/d of medium-salinity Class A recycled water (approximately 15%).
  • 4,700 m³/d of low-salinity Class A recycled water (approximately 85%).
  • A preliminary functional design for the plant was completed in early 2008. A final detailed design is currently being developed. Barwon Water anticipates the first stream will undergo biological treatment and ultrafiltration before reuse within the refinery, while the second larger stream will addtionally go through a reverse-osmosis desalination process before reuse.