Shoalhaven’s Reclaimed Water Management Scheme - case study

Shoalhaven City Council’s Reclaimed Water Management Scheme (REMS) provides for the collection and storage of treated effluent – or reclaimed water – and its application to and then using it to water agricultural land and sports grounds. Most of the ‘watered’ land lies on the floodplain between Nowra and the coast.

Significant infrastructure is already in place to collect reclaimed water from a number of sites and towns. These include St Georges Basin, Huskisson and Vincentia, Culburra and Callala Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Collected reclaimed water is then transferred to participating irrigation areas via a transfer and distribution  system. 

The challenge

Augmenting the REMS will see reclaimed water from the Nowra and Bomaderry WWTPs piped into the scheme. Effluent from these two plants is currently being discharged into local waterways that drain to the Shoalhaven River. Neither plant is connected to the scheme because not only does the effluent quality not meet the requirements for reclaimed water, but the effluent transfer infrastructure is not yet in place. There will be upgrades to both plants to:

• increase their capacity to meet the demands of population growth
• produce high-quality reclaimed water suitable for transfer to the existing REMS distribution system, and
• add new pipes connecting them to the existing systemso they produce high-quality reclaimed water and new pipes connecting them to the existing system.

Our solution

UGL is providing design and construction (D&C) services and all commissioning for the wastewater treatment plants’ augmentation and pipeline construction as part of the Shoalhaven Water’s Reclaimed Effluent Management Scheme.

UGL is responsible for:

• the complex design requirements including the odour control system, the electrical design, and the control systems
• procurement of all items required for the works including the electrical and mechanical equipment
• all construction works, including earthworks, concrete tanks, buildings, pipework, roads and final surfacing, mechanical fit out and electrical fit out
• live commissioning of all elements of the works, including the final proving via the SCADA interface

The works consist of:

• an upgrade to Bomaderry WWTP to 18,000 equivalent population (EP) from the existing 10,000EP (originally built in 1972); with an option to increase the capacity to 24,000EP expected to be required by 2040
  • new kiosk installation
  • 500m trenching with two pits
  • supply and install 11kV 240 Cu  cable
  • 50  m overhead
  • 2 UGOH 
• an upgrade to Nowra WWTP to 37,500EP from the existing 12,000EP (originally built in 1937); with the option to increase the capacity to 50,000EP expected to be required by 2040
  • two new kiosk installations
  • 1.2km trenching
  • supply and install 2.3km 11kV 240 Cu cable
  • 18 poles
  • 1.6km overhead Pluto
  • 60m lv  overhead
• the design of a pipeline under Shoalhaven River connecting Bomaderry WWTP and Nowra WWTP

Key successes

• the project team has secured more than $1.5m of savings through the innovation scheme
• LTI free, 1 MTI with over 500,000 hours worked
• UGL has undertaken an extensive supplier and subcontract prequalification and selection process resulting in a cohesive structure that is able to deliver upon the scope, expectations and timeframe for delivery
• the Bomaderry plant is effectively a brownfield site, with the new plant being built on 3 sides, and crossing the existing plant. Through regular meetings with the operations team, and a pragmatic approach by all parties, there has been no loss of ability of the existing plant to operate at any time