Plant upgrade enables irrigation via treated wastewater

By upgrading the Gracemere sewage treatment plant (STP), Rockhampton Regional Council has ensured that the local sports fields, golf club and grazing land are fully irrigated by wastewater — once treated — that is discharged from the plant.

Now more than 40 years old, the STP currently manages and treats sewage from 8000 people. To improve operational performance and increase safety, Rockhampton Regional Council was looking for a modern new inlet works systems, to be installed by Waternish Engineering.

“We chose the Hydroflux HUBER solution because reliability is critical and because of the efficiency of the component parts — two RPPS inlet screens, a Vormax grit removal system and a RoSF4 grit washing classifier,” said Waternish Managing Director Simon White.

“The RPPS is a perforated inclined drum screen which delivers twice the screenings capture of bar/step type screens. It also includes integrated compaction and washing, which does away with the need for a separate washing compactor,” he continued.

“The RPPS units are super-efficient screens which remove very high levels of materials, such as rags, cotton buds and plastics, and the Vormax grit traps remove sand and grit.

“These materials, if not removed, would otherwise accumulate in the downstream process and lead to maintenance and performance issues. The RoSF4 plays its part too by drying and removing the sand to reduce off-site disposal costs.”

To facilitate installation and reduce site time, Waternish delivered the structure that holds the equipment as a free-standing stainless steel unit, most of which is prefabricated off-site.

John Koumoukelis, a director of Hydroflux HUBER, claimed the HUBER Vormax Grit Traps and HUBER RoSF4 Grit Washing Classifiers represent “the highest-performance technology available in the Australian market”.