PB commenced work in January 2006 as part of an alliance to deliver the Gippsland Water Factory, an innovative wastewater treatment and recycling system in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria (Figure 1).  This exciting and visionary facility will be capable of treating up to 35 million litres (9.2 million gallons) of domestic and industrial wastewater daily.

The initial work centres around a pilot plant using a membrane bio-reactor (MBR) followed by a reverse osmosis (RO) treatment to reduce salt content.  The MBR membrane acts like a filter and is comprised of hollow fibres that are dotted with thousands of holes one-ten thousandth of a millimetre in diameter.  The wastewater will get absorbed through the holes and the solid particles get trapped on the outside of the membrane, leaving a much cleaner wastewater product inside the fibres.  The RO plant will then separate the remaining salt from the water, leaving nearly pure water for recycling back to Australian Paper, a major local industrial facility.  Australian Paper is the initial primary customer and will purchase one-third of the treated water for use at its mill expansion in Maryvale.

Upon completion, the new treatment facility will ensure that remaining unsold wastewater will be of high quality and odour free, eliminating the existing odour issues of the Regional Outfall Sewer.  (Figure 2 shows an open section of the Regional Outfall Sewer.)

PB has assisted in the development of the Gippsland Water Factory since 2002, when it performed early investigation and modelling of the basic existing sewer assets.  We subsequently developed conceptual options and finally a draft business case for the preferred option, a "water factory" for Gippsland Water.  We are now providing multidisciplinary engineering and environmental design services to the Gippsland Water Factory, which will revolutionise the water infrastructure of Victoria's Latrobe Valley and be an icon for Australian industry.

In addition to Gippsland Water, which is the principal sponsor, our alliance partners are CH2MHILL and Transfield Services.  We are working towards a target date for commissioning in 2008.