Premier officially opens Woodman Point Environmental Enhancement Project

29/11/02
A $150million upgrade of Perth's largest wastewater treatment plant will bring benefits to the marine environment around Cockburn Sound as well as to Perth's water supply and the community, Premier Geoff Gallop said today.
Speaking at the opening of the Woodman Point Environmental Enhancement Project, Dr Gallop said the upgrade would greatly improve the quality of water discharged from the treatment plant, reduce odours and make possible wastewater re-use schemes in the Kwinana area.

"The project took more than two years to complete and has increased the capacity of the Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant by about 28 per cent to 160 mega litres per day," the Premier said.
"This will enable it to cope with strong growth in the southern half of the metropolitan area until 2019."
Dr Gallop said the Government had a vision of how Perth's water could be re-used and had set a target of 20 per cent reuse of wastewater by 2012.
"This project's higher quality wastewater will allow for the introduction of a water recycling plant," he said.
"The plant will supply five gigalitres of treated water to Kwinana industry, freeing up that amount from the Perth scheme supply.
"The water recycling plant, the largest of its kind in Australia, will be commissioned in early 2004."
The Premier said the Woodman Point project was the second and biggest upgrade for the plant which was built in 1966 to service most of the Perth metropolitan area south of the Swan River.
Woodman Point was substantially upgraded in 1983 and currently serves more than 500,000 people.

Dr Gallop said the plant now provided advanced secondary treatment of wastewater that was reducing the flow of nutrients to the ocean four kilometres offshore through the Water Corporation's Point Peron outfall.
The quality of the wastewater exceeds all regulatory requirements.
"Above all, we have taken a further big step towards protecting the waters and marine life of Cockburn Sound and the Indian Ocean by producing a higher level of treated wastewater," the Premier said.
"Also, odour management has been strengthened as part of a general program for other wastewater treatment plants in the metropolitan area and across the State."
Dr Gallop said the Woodman Point Environmental Enhancement Project was undertaken by a partnership of the Water Corporation, Clough Engineering Ltd and Halliburton KBR operating as the Woodman Alliance.
"The alliance enabled some of the most advanced wastewater treatment processes in the world," he said.
"These included the centrepiece of the upgraded treatment plant, a 120,000-kilolitre capacity sequencing batch reactor - bigger than the Melbourne Cricket Ground and one of the biggest of its kind in the world - that avoids the need for conventional separate aeration of wastewater to remove nitrogen and provides big energy savings.
"In another innovation, a sewer main extension across Lake Coogee was turned into a public viewing bridge."
The project was completed on time and below budget and will achieve substantial whole-of-life operating cost savings.
Dr Gallop said recycling and re-use of wastewater was a key component of the Government's water strategy, which would be released early next year.
"The upgraded treatment plant at Woodman Point will enable us to encourage greater re-use by industry," he said.
"Currently some 100 gigalitres of treated wastewater goes out to the ocean, and the Government is focussing on how we can re-use a greater proportion of this water.
"Only seven per cent of wastewater is reused in WA - three per cent in Perth and 40 per cent in regional WA."
Premier's office: 9222 9475