Reuse Downunder: Membranes Provide Drought Relief for Queensland

A severe water shortage throughout Australia has prompted state governments across the country to develop water strategies to assure ongoing water supplies for their regions. The State Government and local supply authorities in South East Queensland are implementing a variety of programs to address pending water shortages. One of the key Queensland projects is the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project (WCRWP), which will reclaim water from municipal effluent for reuse to reduce demand by industrial users of current sources and possibly also to replenish source water. A total of three AWTPs will be constructed to treat secondary effluent from six wastewater treatment plants to provide an ultimate reuse water supply of 310 MLD. The first project, Bundamba-A, will go into service in September 2007 with an initial capacity of 30 MLD. The second phase, Bundamba-B will go into service in mid 2008 to provide an additional 30 MLD. The liquid stream process will consist of microfiltration, reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation using UV- peroxide. Unique to this project is treatment of the reverse osmosis waste stream to remove nitrogen and phosphorus prior to discharge to a brackish river.