Wastewater reuse is a hot topic in Australia, with the “toilet-to-tap” label being trotted out on many occasions. In the state of Queensland, it has a lot more relevance because, as well as a brand new desalination plant at Gold Coast, the state now has a giant new municipal water reuse scheme. This article discusses completion of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project, the southern hemisphere’s largest recycled water project, and provides a technical overview of the international award-winning Bundamba Advanced Water Treatment Plant. Producing up to 232,000 m /d of water, the WCRWP is the largest in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world. It provides purified recycled water, a climate- and rainfall-resilient source of pure water, to three power stations located in South East Queensland. In the future, the project will supply water to industry and potentially agricultural users, and, should the region’s drinking water supplies fall below 40%, the Wivenhoe Dam. The project includes a network of more than 200 km of large-diameter underground pipes, three advanced water treatment plants, nine storage tanks and 12 pumping stations. It also provides significant environmental benefits by removing up to 50% of nutrients that would previously have been released to waterways feeding environmentally sensitive Moreton Bay. This article appeared in the May/June issue of D&WR magazine.
Wastewater reuse is a hot topic in Australia, with the “toilet-to-tap” label being trotted out on many occasions. In the state of Queensland, it has a lot more relevance because, as well as a brand new desalination plant at Gold Coast, the state now has a giant new municipal water reuse scheme.
This article discusses completion of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project, the southern hemisphere’s largest recycled water project, and provides a technical overview of the international award-winning Bundamba Advanced Water Treatment Plant.
Producing up to 232,000 m³/d of water, the WCRWP is the largest in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world. It provides purified recycled water, a climate- and rainfall-resilient source of pure water, to three power stations located in South East Queensland. In the future, the project will supply water to industry and potentially agricultural users, and, should the region’s drinking water supplies fall below 40%, the Wivenhoe Dam.
The project includes a network of more than 200 km of large-diameter underground pipes, three advanced water treatment plants, nine storage tanks and 12 pumping stations. It also provides significant environmental benefits by removing up to 50% of nutrients that would previously have been released to waterways feeding environmentally sensitive Moreton Bay.
This article appeared in the May/June issue of D&WR magazine.