Advanced SewageTreatment and Water Recycling
Abstract
The Aurora Estate is a new 8,500 lot development in the suburb of Epping about 20km to the north of the Melbourne CBD. The first houses in the development are expected to be occupied in 2006. The developer, Vic Urban, has promoted the philosophy of environmental sustainability to cover all aspects of the new community including transport, energy use, construction and integrated water management. VicUrban will be funding the cost of all the sewerage and recycled water infrastructure to service the Aurora Estate.
Yarra Valley Water provides water and sewerage services to more than 1.5 million customers within a licence area of 4000 square kilometres in the northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including the Aurora estate. In keeping with the sustainability principles of the development, Yarra Valley Water has commissioned the construction of a sewage treatment plant for Aurora which will produce two reclaimed water product streams, one for irrigation of pasture and one for return to the development where it will be used at individual households for toilet flushing and garden irrigation.
This paper describes the design considerations in providing a 4 ML/d sewage treatment plant and a 4 ML/d reclaimed water plant, which respectively produce product streams of differing qualities. It also discusses the design features that are required to manage the potential risks inherent in returning reclaimed wastewater to within a domestic environment.
The sewage treatment plant is currently under construction.
Authors
John Messenger, Paul Hansen, Don Webster, Scott Hubber, Greg McKinnon, Gerald Carey & Keith Robertson.