Recycled water for Adelaide’s southern suburbs

High-quality recycled water will now be available to residents in Adelaide’s south following the completion of the $62.6m Southern Urban Reuse Project.

The innovative project has the capacity to provide up to 1.6 billion litres of recycled water each year to about 8000 new homes in the southern suburbs.

Minister for Water Paul Caica, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water Senator Don Farrell and Federal MP for Kingston Amanda Rishworth, visited Seaford Meadows where recycled water has been plumbed into more than 500 houses for purposes such as toilet flushing and garden watering.

The state government provided $47.6 million towards the project as part of the Water Proofing the South initiative and the federal government contributed $15 million as part of its $34.5 million contribution to the initiative.

Caica said the use of recycled water in new homes for toilet flushing and irrigation will reduce reliance on mains water and utilise an alternate water source.

“The completion of the Southern Urban Reuse Project will help to increase Adelaide’s water security by conserving drinking water supplies and using a water source which would have otherwise been treated and discharged to the sea,” he said.

“Years of drought conditions have taught us that we need to value every drop of water and this project is one way we can do just that.

“South Australia is one of the nation’s leaders when it comes to recycling water and this is a reputation we are eager to build on. Adelaide is one of Australia’s leading capital cities in water recycling with SA Water recycling about 30% of wastewater, compared to the national average of about 17%.”

Senator Farrell said Seaford Meadows is the first residential development supplied with recycled water as part of the Southern Urban Reuse Project and its benefits will include helping householders keep their gardens green, even during hot, dry summers.

He said, “The project, which began in April 2009, included upgrades to existing infrastructure and construction of new infrastructure at SA Water’s Christies Beach and Aldinga wastewater treatment plants to enable Seaford Meadows properties to access recycled water.

“Re-use water from the Christies Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant is transferred to the Aldinga Wastewater Treatment Plant site. From here, the treated wastewater is stored and further treated before being piped to local homes in the area.”

Construction works for the project included:

• A new pump station at the Christies Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant to transfer the water to the Aldinga WWTP site
• A transfer pipeline from Christies Beach WWTP to the Aldinga WWTP site
• Construction of a bulk water storage at the Aldinga site
• Construction of a tertiary water treatment process at the Aldinga site
• Construction of a pumping station and a dual reticulation (purple) pipeline from Aldinga to the Seaford Meadows urban development