School students in Queensland have recently been treated to an unusual excursion, viewing the highly innovative Redland Shire Cleveland Sewage Treatment Plant. Redland believes its Cleveland Plant is the perfect education facility to show students Australian firsts in sewage treatment. It comprises a one hectare site where earth worms stabilise the biosolids produced during sewage treatment.
It is also the site of the most comprehensive wastewater management study ever undertaken in Queensland in land disposal of effluent. The massive worm farm will turn the annual 10,000 tonnes of sewerage sludge, which normally goes to landfill, into worm castings, a saleable soil conditioner.
Redland Mayor, Councillor Eddie Santagiuliana said many people focus on the clarity of the final water product in sewerage treatment without thinking about how the waste was disposed of during the process.
“Disposal of the residue discarded during the treatment process is a major concern for us,” the Mayor said. “We are very focused on reducing landfill anyway we can.
“By using the worm farm we not only save 10,000 cubic metres of landfill space each year, we can now actually make money from the end product.”
Organic waste management company, Vermitech funded the installation of the $1.4 million processing plant and trucked in 140 tonnes of worms to process all of the sludge collected from the Shire’s four major treatment plants. The resultant worm castings are expected to be sold to orchards, vineyards and organic farmers. The Cleveland plant is Australia’s largest Local Government Vermiculture Plant. It is possible to adapt the technology to smaller or larger applications to suit individual requirements.
For further information contact Julie Saunders, at Redland Shire, telephone (07) 3286 8726 or Mike Lotzoff, at Vermitech, telephone (02) 9261 4055.
