Eastern Treatment Plant

The treatment plant is an important site for chestnut teal

The Eastern Treatment Plant of Melbourne Water is an 1,100ha sewage treatment plant, located in the suburb of Bangholme in Victoria, Australia, 31 km south-east of Melbourne’s central business district. The plant's land is bordered by the Patterson River to the north, the Mornington Peninsula Freeway to the west, and the EastLink Tollway to the south and east.[1]

Description

The plant was built in 1975 on an 1,100ha site. It treats around 40% of Melbourne’s sewage - about 330ML a day - from about 1.5 million people, mainly in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs. It generates its own electricity from biogas. Following treatment, some water is used as recycled water in the local area. The rest is pumped through a 56km pipeline to discharge into Bass Strait at Boags Rocks on the Mornington Peninsula.[2]

Upgrade

After years of lobbying by community groups led by the Clean Ocean Foundation, as of November 2011, the Eastern Treatment Plant was undergoing an upgrade to reduce environmental impact of the water discharge and increase water reuse applications of the water. The wastewater will be treated by ozone, biological filters, ultraviolet disinfection, and chlorine.[3] The UV disinfection system that will be installed at the Eastern Treatment Plant will be the largest in Australia, consisting of 7 closed-vessel UV reactors.[4]

Birds

Along with the nearby Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands, the ETP is part of the Carrum Wetlands Important Bird Area (IBA) and supports many bird species of regional, state, national and international conservation significance. Species for which the IBA is globally important are the sharp-tailed sandpiper, blue-billed duck, chestnut teal and Australasian bittern.[5] There is no public access to the ETP for birdwatchers but the birdlife has been monitored since 1998 by monthly surveys conducted by Birds Australia, with 177 species recorded for the site.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Observable from official Melway maps, http://www.street-directory.com.au/vic/melbourne
  2. 1 2 "Eastern Treatment Plant". Melbourne Water. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  3. ↑ "Upgrading the Eastern Treatment Plant". Melbourne Water. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Trojan to Supply Australia's Largest Ultraviolet (UV) Disinfection System". Trojan Technologies. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "IBA: Carrum Wetlands". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 2011-06-13.

Coordinates: 38°03′40″S 145°10′30″E / 38.06111°S 145.17500°E / -38.06111; 145.17500


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