Sewerage may not be the most glamorous area of Local Government activity but its proper management is critical to the local and wider environment. At Queanbeyan, City Engineers carry out all necessary biological and chemical testing on a system which now caters for a population of 33,000 people.
A combination of the old trickle filter works, built in 1937 and upgraded in 1986 to activated sludge processing, the system now has the capacity to treat 10 megalitres per day. Operating under the auspices of the ACT Environment Protection Authority Licence, phosphorous levels must be below 0.3 mg/1. The Treatment works is currently starring operating at 0.1mg/1.
The achievement of a 99 percent removal of phosphorous enables the water to be recycled for irrigating Council’s treatment works grounds and the adjoining nursery. For the last eight years, sludge from the treatment works has been composted with mulched green waste making a perfect fertiliser.
Surplus compost is sold providing Council with income, and additional savings result from the 50 percent reduction in waste going to landfill.
For further information, contact Bill Swan on (06) 298 0234.
