A $17.5 million upgrade to the Kinloch Wastewater Treatment Plant has just been finished.
The upgrade works commenced in February 2021, not only to improve the treatment processes but to also make the system more resilient, and accommodate ongoing future growth in Kinloch.
Council infrastructure manager Denis Lewis said that contractors had done a great job working through Covid-19 disruptions and supply chain issues to get the plant upgrade completed and online.
“This was a sizeable and quite complex piece of work,” Mr Lewis said. “The treatment process has had a major overhaul with new screening equipment, biological treatment process, membrane filtration, new control room, and underground emergency storage tanks among a large number of changes at the site.
"The highly-treated wastewater is now irrigated under the golf course fairways and will help with grass growth, so this is an environmentally friendly win-win outcome.
"Most of the upgrade work was completed late last year so that it would be up and running for the peak summer season, so the work we have been carrying out in the last few months has been things like fencing, groundworks and completing the structural strengthening of a second tank ready for future use," Mr Lewis said.
“Overall, the upgrade improves the reliability and resilience of the plant. That means we can continue to manage our wastewater responsibly so that we can protect the health of our community in an environmentally sustainable way, but it also means we are future-proofing our system for the growing Kinloch community.
Mr Lewis said Council was grateful to the community for its patience while the work was underway. There would be an open day in the near future for anyone who would like to come and take a tour of the new plant.
