Sustainability Report 2006/07Recycling east of Melbourne
The Eastern Treatment Plant recycled 23,478 million litres of water during 2006/07. This is more than 8.7% of total flows, which already exceeds the 2010 target of 6.1%.
Most of the recycled water was used onsite in the treatment process. If the recycled water was not available, Melbourne Water would have needed to use drinking water for these process operations.
The Eastern Irrigation Scheme, a joint project between Melbourne Water and TopAq, delivers Class A recycled water to horticultural, recreational and residential customers in Melbourne’s east.
Class C recycled water from the Eastern Treatment Plant is supplied to TopAq, which treats the water to Class A standard and supplies it to horticultural, recreational and industrial users to replace drinking water.
This year demand from the scheme increased significantly to 8296 million litres of recycled water, an increase of 62% over the previous year.
The Hunt Club residential estate in Cranbourne East is the first residential dual-pipe recycled water scheme in Victoria. In operation since October 2006, South East Water supplies Class A recycled water to homes via a separate purple-coloured pipe. The recycled water is used for non-drinking purposes such as watering gardens, washing cars and flushing toilets.
In addition to all new allotments being connected to recycled water, public areas throughout the estate such as Waterside Park, Broad Oak Wetlands and Hunt Club Gardens will also be irrigated using recycled water, keeping them green all year round.
About 4.7 million litres of recycled water originating from the Eastern Treatment Plant was supplied to this scheme via TopAq’s Class A treatment plant in 2006/07.
There are also 40 customers who take Class C recycled water from the South East Outfall pipeline, which transports the treated effluent from the Eastern Treatment Plant to Boags Rocks on the Mornington Peninsula.
In 2006/07, these customers used 2128 million litres of recycled water for agricultural and horticultural activities, including watering golf courses and sports fields, for root crop irrigation, flower growing and drip irrigation of vineyards.
Several new customers including schools, nurseries and councils were connected to recycled water supplies from the South East Outfall this year.
