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Sewerage upgrades

Brunswick Area Sewerage Augmentation Scheme

Brunswick River
Land to the left forms part of the Vallance Road Site.  This riparian zone will be revegetated.

 

As part of this scheme a significant portion of the Vallance Road site is to be rehabilitated including the above Salt Marsh

Background

The towns of Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads are presently served by two sewerage treatment plants (STP) Mullumbimby STP and Brunswick Heads STP. Both STP’s are subject to sewage loads that approach and on occasion exceed their design capacity due to population and tourism growth and at  more than 30 years old they are approaching the end of their useful life.

The Brunswick Area Sewerage Augmentation scheme involves transferring sewage loads from their respective catchments via two new pumping stations to a new STP being constructed at Vallances Road Mullumbimby, known as the Brunswick Valley sewage Treatment plant. When complete this will permit the decommissioning of the old Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads Sewerage Treatment Plants eliminating effluent discharges to the Simpson's creek at Mullumbimby and via the Main Arm effluent reuse scheme, discharges to the Brunswick River at Mullumbimby will also be reduced.

It is anticipated that the Mullumbimby - Brunswick Heads Sewerage Treatment Plant will be commissioned late 2010.

What are the benefits?

The Brunswick Area Sewerage Augmentation scheme will:

  • Provide additional sewerage capacity for Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads until 2025.
  • Provide better-quality effluent than the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water  Accepted Modern Technology Standard.
  • Potentially allow for the moratorium on new connections to the sewage treatment systems Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads to be lifted.
  • Improve the environmental health of the Brunswick River estuary.
  • Protect public health, with improved water quality in the Brunswick Estuary allowing for improved recreational and commercial activities
  • Minimise the impact of effluent releases to the Brunswick River on the oyster industry.
  • Maximise the opportunity for beneficial and sustainable reuse of effluent in the Brunswick Area.
  • Maximise the opportunity for beneficial and sustainable reuse of biosolids.

Expansion of the Main Arm reuse scheme

Effluent Reuse at Main Arm

With additional effluent being received to the Brunswick Valley STP opportunities for additional irrigation will arise. Council has plans in place to meet increased sewage supply and effluent demand with additional infrastructure.

Improving effluent reuse will involve the construction of and effluent storage dam and pipeline connecting Ocean Shores Sewage treatment plant to the main Arm effluent reuse scheme.

Award recognition

The Brunswick Area Sewerage Augmentation Scheme was nationally recognised for excellence in natural resource management at an award ceremony it parliament house Canberra.

The project was als recognised for Excellence in Overall Environmental Management at the 2010 United Nations World Environment Day awards.

Upgrading Byron Bay Sewage Treatment

 

Byron Bay Wetlands at Sunset

New Byron Bay Sewage Treatment Plant Commissioning

The new Byron Bay sewage treatment works, located at Bayshore Drive west Byron, was commissioned in November 2005. Now known as the Byron Bay integrated water Management reserve, The Byron Bay Sewerage Augmentation Scheme incorporates many integrated natural resource management initiatives including:

  • Providing better-quality effluent than the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water Accepted Modern Technology Standard.
  • Improving the environmental health of the Belongil Estuary and Tallows Creek estuaries.
  • Protecting of public health, with improved water quality in the Belongil and Tallows estuaries allowing for improved recreational and commercial activities
  • Minimising the impact of effluent releases to the Brunswick Estuary; effluent at Byron Bay passes through constructed wetlands that further improve water quality whilst providing habitat.
  • Maximising the opportunity for beneficial and sustainable reuse of effluent in Byron Bay. Recycled water is used to irrigate playing fields, gold courses and nurseries.
  • Provision for additional sewerage capacity for Byron Bay until 2025.
  • Maximising the opportunity for beneficial and sustainable reuse of biosolids that are reuse on local farms as a soil conditioner.
  • Reduing the impacts of acid sulphate soils on the Belongil estuary via the onsite melaleuca regeneration project that also sequesters carbon and provides habitat.
  • Providing  an educational and recreational resource; bird watches can access the site via a permit system applications can be made via the forms located at: http://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/wetlands

The STP together with the constructed wetlands are performing above expectations and delivering recycled water to very high standards to the various reuse in Byron Bay and Belongil Creek.

Multi Award Winning

Council received a prestigious National Local Government Award for Natural Resource Management Planning and Implementation for the Byron Bay Integrated Water Management Reserve at a ceremony in Canberra on 27 November 2006, complimenting award recognitions by the United Nations of Australia and the NSW Government for the project.

Recent Developments:

Council supports the beneficial reuse of sewage treatment by-products; clean water and biosolids.

The process of separating the water from the biosolids requires considerable amounts of energy and chemicals.

To maximise Councils investment in separating these beneficial by-products Council has recently invested $0.6Milllion in a new biosolids storage facility at the Byron Bay Integrated Water Management Reserve.

The facility will reduce double handling and decrease shipping costs by ensuring the biosolids are not rewetted by rainfall also improving handling when applying the biosolids to land as a spoil conditioner on local farms.

Council now has three purpose built biosolids storage facilities and plans are underway for the fourth at the Ocean Shores treatment plant.

Fact Sheets

Bangalow Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrade

Progress


Photo of the newly commissioned reuse irrigation scheme

The $4.7Million upgrade of Bangalow Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) was commissioned in November 2007. The new treatment plant is a membrane bio-reactor design that utilises biological activity for the treatment of the sewage followed by micro filtration through membranes as a final polishing process.

The new STP will create significantly better effluent (fewer nutrients) than the old plant reducing impacts of discharges on Maori creek. Other benefits of the new STP are improved energy performance, automated and remote control and improved noise and odour performance.

The potential impact of discharges on Maori Creek is further reduced by Councils on site effluent reuse scheme that uses about one third of average daily inflows to grow bamboo. The environmental impact of the reuse scheme is currently being monitored and the reuse amount will be slowly increased with the ultimate aim being 100% dry weather reuse in the future. The bamboo also sequesters carbon as it grows.

As part of the upgrade Council committed to riparian rehabilitation along Maori Creek. Cattle exclusion fencing, removal of a fish barrier and planting of approximately 12,000 trees will contribute to improved habitat, water quality and connectivity in the Bangalow area.

The new treatment plant and the reuse scheme will ensure the sustainable future of sewage treatment for the Bangalow village.

Bamboo Recycled Water Irrigation Project Completed

 

Bamboo Plants

Council has planted over 800 bamboo plants and installed a fully automatic recycled water irrigation system on land adjacent to the new Bangalow STP.  It is anticipated that about one third of all dry weather flows to the STP will be recycled on these bamboo plants.

Fact Sheets