Hunter Water delivers $73 million upgrade to cater for region's population growth
Hunter Water has delivered its single biggest upgrade to one of the Lower Hunter region’s Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW).
The $73 million investment at Farley WWTW near Maitland caters for an increasing population in the fastest growing regional area in New South Wales.
The upgraded plant services large parts of the booming Maitland community, including 8,000 new and planned homes in Rutherford, Lochinvar and Aberglasslyn, together with the suburbs of Bolwarra, Gillieston Heights, Largs, Lorn, Oakhampton and Telarah.
Minister for Water, Housing and Property, Melinda Pavey, said the major investment demonstrated Hunter Water’s ongoing commitment to service the region’s population growth for the next decade and beyond and continue to protect the environment.
“The Farley WWTW upgrade improves the capacity, reliability and performance of the plant to provide high-quality wastewater treatment, delivering better community and environmental outcomes for the growing region.
“The NSW Government has supported Hunter Water to complete the new, $28 million WWTW at Dungog earlier this year, and now with the Farley upgrade finished more than $100 million has been invested on these two projects alone,” Mrs Pavey said.
Hunter Water Managing Director, Darren Cleary, said innovation in design and during delivery included combining two treatment processes in one structure to minimise the construction footprint.
“The $73 million upgrade at Farley is our largest capital works investment at a WWTW to date and will ensure we can continue to cater for our community and the increasing population expected between now and 2032.
“The new design replaces the previous oxidation treatment process with a state-of-the-art membrane bioreactor, combined with biological nutrient removal technology.
“We are investing millions of dollars in upgrades at wastewater treatment plants across our region, including $35 million at Cessnock, $11 million at Raymond Terrace, $10 million at Toronto, and $25 million at Tanilba Bay.
“This highlights our ongoing investment to service growth and ensure we continue to protect the environment,” said Mr Cleary.
With its contractor John Holland, Hunter Water is now decommissioning redundant infrastructure onsite, with that work expected to be completed by late 2022.