Finucane Island water recycling project

BHP Billiton's facility aims for 6-star Greenstar

BHP Billiton, as one of Western Australia's big water users, has a target of 10% potable water saving documented into its environmental policy and sustainable growth strategies. The new administration and maintenance facility at Port Hedland's Finucane Island is part of BHP Billiton's Western Australian Rapid Growths Project (RGP4).

The building aims for 6-star Greenstar accreditation; and to achieve this, a custom-designed recycling system has been installed to treat wastewater and recycle safe re-usable water back into the building for toilet flushing and unrestricted irrigation. The Class A wastewater recycling plant is approved by the Department of Health in Western Australia.

BHP Billiton Iron Ore, through the construction company DECMIL Australia, engaged Cullys Renewed Water Solutions to design and construct its wastewater recycling infrastructure at the newly built Finucane Island complex.

The remote and harsh environment at the project site demanded stringent construction requirements. Cyclonic winds, extremes of temperature, high UV and salinity, and frequent power outages resulted in reengineering their standard plant to cope under the most challenging of conditions. The plant has been engineered to withstand 320 km/h cyclonic winds, incorporating special footings, pumps and backup power supply.

With a regular workforce of about 75 people and shutdown periods with up to 150 staff, the design capacity of the plant is 10 kL/day.

The system was designed, constructed, delivered and commissioned within 12 weeks. The plant consists of a series of in-ground tanks and an air-conditioned containerised central control centre. The containerised plant was built and tested in Cullys' factory and then shipped to site for installation and commissioning.