Western Corridor Recycled Water Project - Australia

Queensland is Australia's second largest state in terms of surface area and constitutes an area of strong strong economic and demographic growth (with a population expected to reach 3.7 million by 2025.)

In addition, the State of Queensland suffered from the repeated effects of unprecedented drought. In July 2007, the water reservoirs guaranteeing nearly all the drinking water supply of the State's South East urban area (2.5 million inhabitants) and that of thermal power plants were only 17% full. In 2006, in light of this aggravated drought situation, the Queensland government realized the scale of the issue and carried out an active policy designed to save, preserve and diversify water resources, notably by encouraging the development of innovative technical solutions such as the recycling of treated wastewater. The total cost of this project amounts to over 2.5 billion Australian dollars, i.e. 1.2 billion Euros.

The Western Corridor Recycled Water Project is a major infrastructure development project aimed at supplying the Swanbank and Tarong power plants with purified recycled water for industrial usage and refilling the Wivenhoe soft water reservoir (the region's main source of water supply) with a view to indirect reuse for the production of drinking water.

This project will constitute the largest water recycling plan in the Southern Hemisphere. A network of roughly 200km of underground pipes will be constructed in order to transport the treated wastewater to three recycling plants which use advanced treatment technologies (microfiltration, reverse osmosis, disinfection, advanced oxidation, etc.). One of the objectives of the project is also to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus discharge into the natural environment, in particular into Moreton Bay.

The State of Queensland selected Veolia Water Australia as the operator with two main tasks:

• Advise the Government on the design and construction of infrastructures completed in partnership with local companies;
• Operate these infrastructures as part of a longterm contract (18 years).

Project design with the sustainable water resource management in mind

• Contribution to the Plan for the sustainable management of the water resources established for the State of Queensland;
• Reduced pressure on traditional water supply sources.

Reduced environmental impact

• Consult with local stakeholders as part of a study on the project's potential environmental, economic and social effects;
• Take into account aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, landscape survey, study of potential impact on air quality and noise.

Scientific partnership with the University of Queensland (UQ)

• Creation of a Chair on wastewater recycling.