Water treatment facility at pristine site

Community expected to double

Identified as being in the top ten of the most desirable places to live in Australia, the picturesque Tweed Valley is watched over by the majesty of Mt Warning, surrounded by five world heritage national parks and just 15 minutes from the pristine beaches of the Tweed Coast. Combine all of these awe-inspiring elements and you have a community that is expected to double its population to between 120,000 and 160,000 by 2031.

Infrastructure and planning were of paramount importance when future water supply was considered for the region by the Tweed Shire Council. Water supply from the Bray Park Water Treatment Plant was at its capacity of 50 MLD and was taking water from the Bray Park Weir and discharging water into the Tweed River; aspects that were not part of a greener sustainable future.

The Council initiated an extensive campaign and obtained approval from the project under the NSW Environment and Assessment Act receiving ministerial approval.

Working closely with Reed Construction, Kaeser Compressors’ use of computer-aided design software enabled the partnership to address the various challenges of this project by providing technical solutions with medium pressure, screw compressors and air treatment, as well as low-pressure blower applications. The ability to supply compressor equipment as water cooled, rather than air cooled, provided additional flexibility in the installation without sacrificing performance and reliability. Following assessments of the expected harsh conditions of high ambient temperatures and high relative humidity, installing the compressors in the main plant room was the successful solution.

The Bray Park Water Treatment Plant was commissioned in April 2010 at a cost of $76M, now delivering 100 ML per day via an immersed ultrafiltration facility. This technology delivers high-quality drinking water for the needs of the Tweed Valley’s population today with capacity to deliver up to 150 MLD in the future.

This is said to be Australia’s largest microfiltration water treatment plant of its kind. The innovative design incorporates filters made up of millions of hollow spaghetti-like strands which, when placed under pressure, suck the water through their surface and, in the process, filter out unwanted organic and non-organic particles.

There are approximately 6.5 million filter fibres for the first stage of the plant which are spread throughout four filtration tanks.

Side-by-side blower installation was achievable with Kaeser’s unique front-access service design, enabling ease of delivery to the customer specification of a front-mounted switchboard, while being able to maintain a small clearance between each blower for positioning of the cable tray.