Australia water: a mega wastewater treatment plant in Perth

Can Wastewater really become the new black gold? The answer is yes, because – if treated properly – wastewater can be turned into clear water, animal feed, and even fuel. This is already happening at the Woodman Point Water Resource Recovery Facility, a wastewater treatment plant located in the city of Munster, just south of Perth, in the heart of Western Australia.

This initiative – managed by Water Corporation – is a key part of the broader “Australia water” strategy, showcasing innovative solutions for sustainable water management. The plant treats around 150 million liters of wastewater every day from nearly 900,000 homes and businesses. Inside the facility, up to 78 tons of organic matter and sludge are converted into biosolids, a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process that can be transformed into fertilizer for wheat, oats, and canola crops.

To keep up with Perth’s growing population, Water Corporation has tasked “Integrate JV,” led by Clough (a Webuild Group company), with increasing the amount of organic matter treated daily at the Woodman Point Water Resource Facility to 120 tons. «No longer considered waste, wastewater is now treated and recycled», explains Water Corporation, emphasizing that sustainability is the driving principle behind this process: «Our goal is to recycle up to 35% of all wastewater in the Perth metropolitan area by 2035.»

The facility’s upgrade will also make it partially self-sufficient by using another byproduct of the wastewater treatment process: biogas. This will enable the plant to meet nearly half of its energy needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 5,600 tons per year. Twenty years ago, Clough was involved in a previous modernization of this facility, constructing systems for treating organic waste, storage tanks, and odor control.

The treatment and reuse of wastewater at the facility in Munster does not detract from the Water Corporation’s other main function of supplying potable water, which is becoming more crucial as rainfall becomes scarcer due to climate change.

It does not help that its customers find themselves on the driest inhabited continent in the world. Nor the fact that the continent is afflicted by droughts that are becoming longer. «The devastating impacts of Australia’s last major drought from 2017 to 2019, known as the Tinderbox drought, are a stark reminder of what we might expect in future», reads an April 3, 2024 article by academics Georgina Falster,

Nerilie Abram and Nicky Wright (Australian National University and University of Sydney) on the online publication, The Conversation.

In the 1960s, Water Corporation could rely on active dams to meet nearly 90% of Perth’s water needs. Today, those dams are no longer sufficient, as their reservoirs are drying up due to a lack of rainfall. Since the 1970s, the amount of rainfall in southern Western Australia has decreased by about 20%, leading to an 80% reduction in the water flow that fills the dams around Perth.

The diminishing role of dams has increased the importance of both wastewater treatment and desalination plants, to the point that nearly one-third of Perth’s water supply now comes from transforming ocean saltwater. This is further compounded by population pressure: statistics show that Perth, which gained 80,000 new residents between 2022 and 2023, has become Australia’s fastest-growing city.

With the population rising and rainfall expected to decrease by another 15% by 2030, Water Corporation is heavily investing in water management and desalination plants to ensure long-term water supply.