Lamella Clarifier

The Nova Nickel Project uses treated bore water to supply both potable water and process water to the accommodation village, mine site facilities and process plant. The bore water is high in salt and other minerals and therefore Reverse Osmosis (RO) is used to purify the water prior to use.  The RO plants installed on site did not have adequate flocculation and solid separation prior to the RO process and consequently the membranes were fouling, equipment failing and RO plant downtime was affecting downstream operations. MAK Water was requested to attend site to review the Reverse Osmosis system, recommend long term solutions and provide a quick solution to ensure a reliable water supply to the site.

MAK Water was engaged to deliver the process water and potable water treatment plants for the Cobre Project, one of the larger copper mine developments in Central America. As this was a Greenfield project and the exact feed water quality was uncertain, MAK Water proposed a robust process incorporating: • Chemical flocculation to improve efficiency of solids separation • Lamella clarification as pre-treatment to account for spikes in suspended solids, and • Media filtration in order to achieve the final quality of process and potable water for the site. MAK Water was selected thanks to its innovative modular containerised design, extensive experience in delivering high quality packaged water treatment plants for remote mining projects, and its ability to customise the solution to meet the project requirements.

Due to the impacts of climate change, Western Australia’s municipal water provider undertook an expansion of existing water infrastructure to increase groundwater abstraction for Perth’s potable water supply. As part of the expansion of the Neerabup Ground Water Treatment Plant, the construction contractor needed to treat media filter backwash wastewater for solids removal prior to recycling back into the treatment process. MAK Water underwent sample bench testing to confirm process design and worked closely with the engineering consultant and the WA Water Corporation to confirm final equipment selection. MAK Water was selected to provide a compact Lamella Clarifier with custom equipment package.

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.