How wastewater treatment works at the hub
Wastewater from homes, businesses and industry arrives at the plant every day. It passes through several treatment stages before the treated water is safely returned to the environment or reused to irrigate nearby parks and sporting grounds.
- Wastewater arrives – separate sewerage pipelines bring household wastewater and high-strength industrial trade waste to the plant.
- Residential wastewater treated – residential sewage is directed to the existing mechanical plant for treatment via a biological nutrient removal process.
- Industrial wastewater treated – industrial trade waste is directed to two covered 28-megalitre lagoons. Microorganisms break down the waste without oxygen, using less energy than conventional treatment.
- Biogas is captured – as the waste breaks down, it produces biogas containing about 60 to 70% methane. The gas is captured instead of being released.
- Renewable electricity is made – a heat exchanger uses biogas to heat water to maintain temperature in the fats, oils and grease tank. Biogas will also be used to power an electricity generator, and together with the solar farm, this energy will power the plant 24-7, with excess electricity fed into the grid.
- Further treatment – treated water from both the industrial process and residential process is then combined in the upgraded bioreactor for further treatment to reduce nutrients. The treated water can then be safely released to the river or reused where suitable.
