water recycling projects
Recycled water from the Western and Eastern Treatment Plants is available for a range of potential activities.
Currently, 21.5% of Melbourne's sewage is recycled and used at market gardens, parks, sport grounds and in industry.
Melbourne's east
Recycled water is available for a range of uses
The Eastern Treatment Plant has been selling Class C recycled water since the 1970s. Then, farms, market gardens, vineyards, golf courses and sports groups along the South East Outfall were able to buy recycled water from the Eastern Treatment Plant.
Nowadays, we provide Class C recycled water from the Eastern Treatment Plant to a company called TopAq. TopAq use very fine filtration methods (for example, ultrafiltration membranes) to produce Class A recycled water. TopAq then supplies the Class A recycled water to a range of customers, such as market gardens, nurseries, golf courses and new housing estates in Melbourne's east.
We are committed to upgrading the treatment methods at the Eastern Treatment Plant to a tertiary level. This upgrade will improve the quality of recycled water produced at the plant to Class A. Therefore, it will increase the water recycling options in the area.
The upgrade of the Eastern Treatment Plant will be completed in 2012. It will produce over 100 million litres of Class A recycled water.
Melbourne's west
At the Western Treatment Plant, Class C recycled water is used to water our farm paddocks. To increase recycled water use in the area, we have built a water recycling water to treat the Class C recycled water produced in our treatment lagoons to a Class A standard. We then supply the Class A recycled water to a number of places in nearby Werribee through City West Water and Southern Rural Water.
The first recycled water customers in the area were the Werribee Park Golf Club and the National Equestrian Centre. They began receiving recycled water in 2003.
In January 2005, we began supplying recycled water to market gardens in the Werribee Irrigation District through Southern Rural Water. The main sources of irrigation water, at the time, were the Werribee River and underground aquifers. By using recycled water from the Western Treatment Plant, farmers were able to take the pressure off the Werribee River and the aquifers.
Where else is water recycled?
Recycled water is used across Victoria. For example, in Gippsland and in the Grampians, all of the water from some treatment plants is recycled and used at local farms.
Recycled water has also been in common use throughout the world for many years. Some large water recycling systems in California has been in existence for more than 30 years. In Singapore and Namibia recycled water makes up a portion of the drinking water supply.