Rotorua District Council, New Zealand, is to install advanced bacteria-removing membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology for the upgrade to its wastewater treatment plant using GE’s Zeeweed 500d ultrafiltration technology.
Built to comply with stricter environmental requirements, this will be the largest MBR plant in New Zealand and also marks the first use of GE MBR technology in the country. Expected to be completed by June of 2011, the MBR retrofit will enhance the plant’s capacity to handle its growing wastewater treatment needs and meet the country’s tighter discharge regulations without building additional, costly structures, such as clarifiers or process tanks.
The wastewater treatment plant serves about 70,000 people. Even before the upgrade, effluent from the modified Bardenpho treatment process was being reused to irrigate 420 ha of forest.
GE will work closely with Rotorua’s in-house engineering unit, Hydrus Engineering Consultants and engineering company AWT New Zealand Ltd.