Trade Wastewater Treatment for Geological Laboratory

As the nation transitions to renewable energy, ambitious tunnelling infrastructure projects are required to deliver one of the largest pumped hydroelectric schemes in the world. MAK Water was invited to tender for the design, manufacture and commissioning of two packaged water treatment plants for Australia’s largest committed renewable energy project. Project challenges included high turbidity and the variable quality of tunnelling construction wastewater with elevated TDS. Treated water was to be compliant with strict environment discharge to a sensitive alpine stream in a national park. Available footprint was limited and the plants had to operate continuously 24/7 in alpine conditions of high winds and sub zero temperatures. The water treatment was critical to the progress of this major project and so MAK Water had to deliver on an expedited delivery schedule.

After close to a decade’s successful operation, it was time for a system overhaul. To coincide with the overhaul Peachey Constructions decided to upgrade the system to incorporate the latest technology available by MAK Water. This upgrade ensured optimum treated water quality and minimised operational costs.

The QANTAS terminal at Brisbane Airport required water treatment and recycling solutions for the treatment of water from wash down of aircraft and parts. The wastewater was to be treated and reused for wash down with excess water used for local irrigation.

As part of the largest renewable energy project in Australia to provide on-demand energy and large-scale storage, extensive tunnelling was required to connect two existing dams with a new underground power station for the pumped hydro-electric scheme. The tunnelling process generates large volumes of construction wastewater that needs treatment before being discharged into sensitive alpine streams within a national park. Given the stringent environmental constraints and monitoring requirements, the client required a reliable water treatment solution to meet its sustainability goals and ensure compliance. MAK Water was selected as the solutions provider to design, manufacture, and commission two packaged water treatment plants to provide treatment of the tunnelling construction wastewater. The sludge generated from water treatment process, is dewatered onsite, to minimise transport costs prior to disposal in land-fill.

A major defence contractor reached out to MAK Water to discuss options for demineralised water treatment. The client required low conductivity water for to top up battery water on naval vessels. Demineralised water was needed at two different locations and the client had a tight schedule to ensure continuity of service. Following a full consultative review MAK Water designed a containerised Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis – Basic (BWRO-B-010) plant that uses a MAKPAK ion exchange process to treat scheme water to below 5µs/cm conductivity. The plant was delivered on-time, in-budget and producing water well below the conductivity in the design specification. This enabled the client to top up batteries with low conductivity water reducing the risk of the batteries losing capacity and extending battery life. As a result of the success of this project MAK Water has been asked to consult with international allies to produce a similar solution for their own use.

Construction and demolition waste streams from infrastructure and urban development are disposed in dedicated Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfill, separate to putrescible waste from households. Landfills produce leachate that will exceed environmental discharge limits imposed by the local environmental authorities, if not treated to remove contaminants. Through routine sampling and monitoring, a regional NSW landfill operator identified bromine levels that exceeded their discharge limits. MAK Water was approached to work in collaboration with the onsite wastewater treatment team to provide a rapid solution to limit bromine concentration to below discharge limits in the treated leachate and reduce the volume of waste that had to be trucked off-site for disposal.