Innovation in Global Power - Parsons Brinckerhoff

Networking
Water Factory Will Help to Address Water
Shortage Concerns
By Andrew Hodgkinson, Melbourne, Victoria, 61(3) 9861 1171, hodgkinsonA@pbworld.com
http://www.pbworld.com/news_events/publications/network/
Gippsland Water Factory is
a leading example of
integrated urban water
cycle management. The
author provides an overview
of the facility and the key
three steps in its wastewater
treatment process,
and tells of the alliance
delivery model that has had
outstanding results in
Australia.
Figure 1: Membrane bioreactor
construction as of September,
2007.
1 Two other articles in this issue are
about related topics. See “Converting
Landfill Gas to High BTU Fuel” by
Roger Lemos, pp.54-55; and ”Planning
for Mini Hydro in Distributed Generation”
by Tony Mulholland, pp.25-26 and
37.
2 To learn more about commercial composting,
see the preceding article, “PB
Redesigns a Composting Machine for
Improved Operations” by Oriol Altés,
pp.91-93.
The Latrobe Valley region in the State of Victoria, Australia, is pioneering a solution that will
help to address water shortage concerns, provide lasting community benefits and set the
standard in Victoria for industrial water reuse. The Gippsland Water Factory, an A$174 million
facility, will be an innovative wastewater treatment and water recycling facility. An alliance of
PB, Gippsland Water,Transfield Services Limited and CH2M HILL will deliver the facility.
When PB first began working with Gippsland Water on the project in 2001, the focus was to
develop a management strategy to solve some immediate environmental issues (especially
odour) associated with Gippsland Water’s Regional Outfall Sewer. Over several successive
stages, the project’s focus widened to the long-term sustainability of the entire region’s water
supply, and the variety of benefits the facility could deliver. The current Gippsland Water
Factory (Stage 1) works are establishing an initial recycled water supply of 8 ML (2 million
gallons)/day to service a local paper mill.
Major civil works began in early 2007. Major concrete works for the membrane bioreactor,
the key structure of the facility, are now complete (Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4). The membrane
bioreactor is a membrane filtration system that will use ground-breaking technology to
provide an important step in the treatment of the region’s domestic and industrial
wastewater. Successful hydro testing of this structure was
completed in March 2008, a major milestone for the project.
How the Technology Works
The facility was designed to minimise greenhouse gas emissions,
with carbon efficiency being a key design objective throughout the
project. Electricity to help power the facility’s operation will be
generated onsite from biogas produced in the initial biological
treatment and from a nearby micro-hydro facility. 1 Such generation
methods will help to minimise environmental impacts on the
site and help keep the carbon footprint of the project as small
as possible.
Also planned as part of the water factory is the Vortex Centre,
which would showcase the wastewater treatment technology and
serve as an education resource for the community.
The water factory includes three key treatment processes: biological treatment, membrane
filtration and reverse osmosis.
Biological Treatment. During biological treatment, bacteria feed on organic substances in
the water. At this stage, the organic matter present in the water is converted to carbon
dioxide, water and sludge. This sludge concentrates in the bioreactor and over time is removed
from the reactor tank as biosolids, which will be further processed offsite into compost. 2
The remaining water moves on to the next stage of the process, membrane filtration.
Membrane Filtration. During membrane filtration, the biologically treated water is
separated from the sludge through a series of ultrafiltration membranes. Each membrane
is like a straw dotted with thousands of tiny holes (pores) that are less than one-tenthousandth
of a millimetre in diameter.
PB Network #68 / August 2008 94