GROUP L WRE II Assignment
GROUP L WRE II Assignment
GROUP L WRE II Assignment
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
INTRODUCTION
Sustainable water means a nation that can be water self-sufficient: ensuring there is enough water to
meet multiple needs, from agriculture to municipal and industrial. It also means water supply will remain
consistent, despite climate change impacts, such as a lack of rainfall and drought, or too much rain and
being flood resilient. Sustainable water management means the ability to meet the water needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.
Overview.
Australia, has very low rainfall in majority of the continent, this coupled with increased awareness on
the adverse effects that nutrient rich effluent from Waste water Treatment Plants has on the water bodies
it was discharged into, (mostly the ocean) where it caused algae proliferation, reduction in density of
Mangrove forests in some parts, and loss of sea grass made it necessary for the Authorities to consider
waste water recycling and reuse. Australia first began to adopt water recycling in the 1990s, with urban
wastewater management being decentralized and each state handling their own Cities, this being
accompanied by the first quality standards. The Cities and regions used different approaches to
wastewater recycling, to cater for their respective needs.
a) Urban use
In 1993, The New South Wales (NSW) Recycled Water Coordination Committee Developed the NSW
guidelines for Urban and Residential Use of Reclaimed Water. In the Sydney area, in order to reduce
Nutrient Loads on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system caused by the discharge of treated wastewater,
they devised the ‘Dual Pipe Scheme’ whereby recycled water from the wastewater treatment plant
(WWTP) and drinking water were delivered to households in different pipes, with a 25mm purple
coloured pipe being used for the recycled wastewater, this was adopted in new developing suburbs in
the Sydney area such as Rouse Hill. The waste water treatment plant for the scheme treated 4400 cubic
metres of water in a day for reuse.
With the main treatment phases being Coagulation, Flocculation, Filtration and Disinfection.
Disinfection being initially done by Zonation, and later by UV radiation and Super Chlorination. The
recycled water was used for toilet flushing, Garden watering and laundry. The scheme resulted in 40%
less drinking water being used. They placed a reliance on Endpoint testing and monitoring.
b) Agriculture
In Adelaide, water from the Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant was causing damage to the ocean
environment into which it was discharged. The WWTPs in the metropolitan area were required to
develop plans to upgrade the quality of their effluents, which had unacceptably high levels of Nitrogen
compounds and Phosphorous, which was causing loss of density in Mangrove forests, algae proliferation
and loss of sea grass. Authorities also noted that Horticultural growers close by were diminishing ground
water resources at an unsustainable rate, such that salt water was now being drawn into the acquirers
they used. Bolivar WWTP effluent could be used to support horticulture by irrigation. For this purpose
the plant was converted from trickling filters with secondary sedimentation to an activated sludge
process, and a dissolved Air filtration/floatation plant integrated into the plant. The result was production
of class A rated recycled water, suitable for use on crops.
In Melbourne the Western Treatment plant is one of the world’s largest lagoon based water treatment
plants in the world. Commissioned in the 1890s the plant used three sewage treatment methods: land
filtration, grass filtration and lagoon treatment.
Today all sewage at the Western Treatment Plant is treated in modern lagoons, replacing old lagoons
and traditional land and grass filtration methods. The new methods remove large amounts of nitrogen,
which would otherwise enter the bay, and generate high quality recycled water, which is a valuable
resource for onsite and offsite use
c) On-Site
There have also been attempts by authorities to fit onsite wastewater reclamation systems on site; an
example is in a housing development at St Kilda Victoria. Where there was adopted recycling of
domestic greywater (bathroom basins and showers) from four buildings using an activated sludge
(aeration) tank, with secondary filtration. Recycling of greywater and storm water provided water for
toilet flushing and garden irrigation.
There are also instances where water reclamation and reuse was done in the confines of a single property.
Such as a residence in Sydney that collected all sewage in an underground concrete tank, containing 3
filter beds and underground bacterial amelioration. The water was then subjected to UV disinfection.
Authorities in the Capital undertook trial installations of domestic-sized wastewater treatment plants in
each of six houses in urban Canberra. The wastewater was either treated aerobically to a high standard
and transferred to a holding tank on each block, or was managed with an intermittent activated sludge
process, in which an air stream was used to keep organic material in suspension, but was periodically
turned off, the suspended material then being allowed to settle and the clear effluent decanted from just
below the surface. The treated and disinfected effluents from the systems were pumped for use within
the house for toilet flushing and irrigation.
An example of such a scheme is illustrated below
d) INDUSTRIAL RECYCLING
Brisbane in the year 2000, the Luggage Point Industrial Reuse Scheme began to recycle 10% of their waste water.
This plant provides 10million litres/Day of tertiary treated water using Fine screening and conditioning. In the
Kwinana Industrial Recycling Plant in Perth, in 2004 this scheme takes treated wastewater from the Woodman
Point wastewater treatment plant and further treats it using microfiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. This
produces high quality recycled water with low salinity that can be used in various industrial processes it uses
tertiary treatment processes of microfiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. The use of this recycled water
replaces drinking water.
Future perspectives
The pressures from population growth, urbanization and climate change will continue and thus the demand for
water recycling will increase in future. From the above case studies we will have excellent operational data to
design new systems that protect the environment, reduce the carbon footprint of the water industry are acceptable
to our communities.
Coupled with the use of soil as a treatment method, aquifer recharge can economically treat wastewater.
In addition, subsoil storage reduces water losses because of the low evapotranspiration rate. Managed
aquifer recharge currently makes only a small contribution to water resources development in Australia,
estimated at ~400 Mm3 (Table 1) that is 8% of approximately 5,000 Mm3 national groundwater use.
Scaling up of groundwater replenishment with recycled water for potable supplies has recently
commenced due to significant cost savings with respect to seawater desalination.
Table 1 - History of managed aquifer recharge in Australia (in 106m3 /year)
1961-1970 79 10 69
The first intentional recharge began in 1965 on the Burdekin Delta of central Queensland where surface
infiltration of river water using sand dams, pits and channels augmented groundwater irrigation supplies
to grow sugar cane in a coastal area and prevent saline intrusion. In South Australia, aquifer storage and
recovery in the Bremer River irrigation area and recharge releases from a new reservoir in the Little
Para River upstream of the northern Adelaide Plains. In north-west Western Australia, Opthalmia
recharge dam and four basins were built at Newman, in south-east Queensland recharge weirs were built
on the Callide and Lockyer Rivers, and in Victoria recharge basins were established near Geelong, to
augment groundwater supplies to a growing urban area.
In addition to storage of available surface water and groundwater, Australia has experience in harvesting
urban stormwater, recycled water, and pumped mine or coal seam gas water, for use or to provide
environmental benefit (i.e. sustaining groundwater dependent ecosystems). This groundwater treatment
includes aeration, water softening, pH adjustment, filtration, chlorination and fluoridation. The MAR
operation provides a safe, climate-independent drinking water source for Australia
Figure 2 - An overview of Australia’s extensive capacity for MAR using surface water, urban storm water, recycled (reclaimed) water
and groundwater (including pumped mine and coal seam gas water)
Overview
Water transfer is the transfer of water from one source or basin to another. It is a common component
of many regional water systems, and are increasingly being considered for meeting growing water
demands and for managing the impacts of drought. Water transfers can take many forms and can serve
a number of different purposes in the planning and operation of water resource systems.
Environmental Impacts:
Dams built have caused the creation of a large storage lakes such as Lake Eucumbene. This has
flooded large, valuable wildlife habitats. The decomposition of vegetation in these is releasing
large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Diverting there river flow to New South Wales for irrigation means that the Snowy River flow
is now at just 1% of what it was prior to the diversion.
Overview
Australia is the driest inhabited continental land on earth. To mitigated drought effects on the
sustainability of available water resources, many Australian states have introduced regulatory
requirements and incentives for the installation of rainwater harvesting systems. The primary intent of
rainwater harvesting in Australia is to save on municipal water. However, in urban areas, with large
impeded surfaces, rainwater harvesting is additionally used to manage surface runoff. Rainwater, unlike
municipal water, is rarely subject to multiple barriers that ensure its safety for human consumption. In
Australia, State Health Departments have produced guidelines suggesting that the public use municipal
water for drinking and cooking. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that people are giving preference
to drinking rainwater even when municipal water is available. This review examines the factors that
influence the use of roof harvested rainwater in Australia and the potential human health consequences.
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) could be the most sustainable solution to be included in the urban water
management system. It could mitigate the water crisis problem, reduce the burden on traditional water
resources, alleviate non-point source pollutant loads, control water logging problems, prevent flooding,
help in controlling climate change impacts, contribute to the storm water management and so forth
Water scarcity and the limited capacity of the convectional sources in urban areas promotes rainwater
harvesting as an easily accessible source. The system could be utilized locally and commercially for
securing water demand in water scarce areas all around the world. Harvested water could be idealized
and used like supply water if the water quality parameters satisfy the desired level. The monitoring of
collected rainwater is of great concern as it is the potential for health risk because of the presence of
chemical and microbiological contaminants, therefore quality assessment of collected water is essential
before use
Rainwater harvesting is a multi-purpose way of supplying usable water to consumers during the crisis
period, recharging the ground water and finally reducing the runoff and water logging during the season
of heavy rainfall. Traditional knowledge, skills and materials can be used for this system. During the
rainy season, an individual can collect water on his rooftop and manage it on his own. Reserved
rainwater on rooftops can be used for self-purposes or domestic use. Water from different rooftops of a
lane can also be collected through a piped network and stored for some time. This water can be then
channelled to deep wells to recharge ground water directly to the ponds to replenish ground water slowly
and to reservoirs to dilute reclaimed water for non-portable use
Unless it comes to contact with the surface or collection system, the quality of rainwater meets
Environmental Protection Agency standards and the independent characteristic of its harvesting system
has made it suitable for scattered settlement and individual operation. If needed, a chemical treatment
such as chlorination can be used to purify the water. The acceptance of rainwater harvesting will expand
rapidly if methods are treated such as building services and if designed into the structures instead of
being retrofitted.
Figure 4 - Schematic of a rain water harvesting system
Overview
Desalination refers to the process of removal of mineral components from saline water with the aim of making it
potable. Desalination is a water supply option that is used widely around the world and involves taking the salt
out of water to make it drinkable. Many countries within arid and semi-arid areas use desalination as a way of
creating a more reliable water supply that is not dependent on rain. Until a few decades ago, Australia met its
demands for water by drawing freshwater from dams and water catchments. However, as a result of the water
supply crisis during the severe 1997–2009 drought, state governments began building desalination plants that
purify seawater.
Importance of Desalination
The process of desalination involves the conversion of saline water to potable water. Thus, by converting saline
water, the process can offer freshwater in areas lacking natural groundwater, or surface water supplies. Together
with water reuse, desalination can offer solutions to water scarcity and, in some countries, provides over 90 per
cent of total water supply. For Australia the importance is that; It improves water quality, reduces water shortage
problems, it provides an alternative source that is safe to use (Kim, Park, Yang, & Hong, 2019) (Water
Corporation, 2020).
Advantages Disadvantages
Provides accessible drinking water High cost to build and operate
Improved water quality and habitat protection Environmental impact due to brine production
and waste disposal
Provide water for agricultural use Large consumption of energy
Have Modular systems Requires pre-treatment
Expansion of drinking water sources
Has a higher yield compared to other sources
After reverse osmosis water is very pure
Technologies Employed
Compared to existing sources, desalination is considered to be expensive, but research is underway to develop
more effective desalination technology. Despite its drawbacks, it is considered a possible solution to Australia’s
water shortages. Australia has a large number of plants that undertake desalination of seawater. The Department
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in Australia has considered several desalination technologies processes that
is:
a) Distillation
i. Multi-stage flash distillation
ii. Multiple-effect distillation
iii. Vapor-compression desalination
iv. Solar humidification
b) Membrane Process
i. Reverse osmosis
ii. Electrodialysis
iii. Membrane Distillation
However, currently the Australian government and the water corporation rely on the membrane process that is
reverse osmosis.
Reverse Osmosis
This is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane to separate ions,
unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water. It works by using applied pressure to overcome the
osmotic pressure (Barron, et al., 2015). As such it capable of removing a number of suspended chemical species
as well as biological ones. The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and
the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other side. The reverse osmosis and the nanofiltration process are one
of the best desalination processes (Kim, Park, Yang, & Hong, 2019). Thus, it is a water supply system and is free
of dissolved matter and salts. The membranes act as a selective permeable barrier that allows only water to pass
through it while retaining the other substances.
The plants in Australia that use desalination are outlined in the table below with their respective capacities.
Plant Capacity(gigalitres/year)
Perth Seawater Desalination 45
Southern Seawater alliance Consortium 100
Gold coast Desalination 49
Adelaide Desalination 100
Victorian Desalination 150
Sydney Desalinaton 90
A solar powered desalination unit designed for remote communities has been tested in the Northern Territory.
The reverse osmosis solar installation (ROSI) uses membrane filtration to provide a reliable and clean drinking
water stream from sources such as brackish groundwater. Solar energy overcomes the usually high-energy
operating costs as well as greenhouse emissions of conventional reverse osmosis systems (Ackerman, 2018).
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