‘World class’ is how Coffs Harbour’s new $96 million Water Reclamation Plant was described by NSW Minister for Water, Phillip Costa, when he officially opened the facility in July this year with Coffs Harbour Mayor Councillor Keith Rhoades.
“The new plant is a crucial component of Council’s $250 million Sewerage Strategy, which was established to ensure that the area’s sewerage infrastructure will meet the needs of its growing population in the future,” said Stephen Sawtell, Council’s General Manager. “Coffs Harbour City Council is recognised nationally as being ahead of the field in terms of providing the water and sewerage infrastructure we need to allow our community to continue to grow and develop.”
The plant is capable of producing up to 21 megalitres of reclaimed water daily. Now that it is fully commissioned, the reuse capacity of Council’s four reclamation plants – at Coffs Harbour, Sawtell, Moonee and Woolgoolga – has increased to 25 megalitres a day.
Reclaimed water is used around the Coffs Harbour Local Government area to irrigate crops, sporting fields and for dust suppression. Currently, there are 44 users of the city’s reclaimed water, including nurseries, sports ovals and complexes, golf courses, the race course, a school, six small primary producers, two hydroponics growers and 18 farms and banana plantations.
The plant, which was financed by Council and partly funded by the NSW Department of Water and Energy, was built through an Alliance contract between Council and John Holland, Abigroup, GHD, Aquatec Maxcon, CNFA and Serck Controls.
The new plant is located adjacent to the old sewerage plant between Howard Street and Christmas Bells Road.
Construction of the plant began in November 2006 and it was switched on for the first time in March 2009. The new plant will treat up to 15 million litres of sewage on a normal dry day and up to 107 million litres during wet weather.
