Water Disinfection Systems

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.

The Balama Graphite project will be the leading global producer of high purity graphite. The front end engineering and design (FEED) was awarded to a Perth based engineering firm, who subsequently carried out the engineering and procurement for the project. As a reputable and renowned market leader in design and manufacture of packaged water and sewage treatment plants for the resources sector, MAK Water was awarded the contract to supply the project’s water and sewage treatment plants.

The Government of Western Australia (WA) Housing Authority manages essential services at Aboriginal communities in the remote outback of WA via the Remote Area Essential Services Program. Local Regional Service Providers are engaged by the Housing Authority for the delivery of essential services to these communities. One of the Regional Service Providers identified some communities with consistently low levels of residual chlorine in the potable water supply. The existing chlorine dosing equipment needed upgrading to automate it and store the sodium hypochlorite solution in a temperature controlled environment to prevent heat degradation. The client was looking for a fully automated, low maintenance system, to monitor and maintain free chlorine levels in accordance with Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG).

A corrective service centre located near Geraldton in WA approached MAK Water to review the operations of their Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The current treatment process was not achieving the required standards set by the Department of Environment for its treated effluent, and therefore MAK Water’s objective was to provide a long-term solution that would not only improve water quality but reduce ongoing operation costs and promote operator safety. MAK Water was able to diagnose two main reasons the current system was failing, firstly inadequate contact time for the disinfectant to affectively work and the monitoring ability of the system to comply with DOH requirements. As the client did not want to have chlorine gas on site a sodium hypochlorite disinfection system was selected.

One of the highest-grade Manganese mines in the world wanted to upgrade their aging water treatment infrastructure.  The site was based in an area that is susceptible to extreme heat year-round and is logistically difficult to reach. As such, achieving disinfection using sodium hypochlorite would have been problematic as the cost of transporting the liquid along with the fast thermal degradation of sodium hypochlorite would have made it an unviable solution. Considering the remote nature of the site and the extreme heat environment MAK Water proposed a containerised modular chlorine gas disinfection plant to recirculate the contents of the sites treated water tank ensuring the correct free chlorine residual is maintained at all times.

The owner of a lithium mine undergoing expansion near Port Hedland in Western Australia required assistance with the treatment of wastewater from a new heavy vehicle (HV) washbay. The requirement was for initial Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) reduction via a MAK Water Oil Water Separator (OWS), prior to additional treatment to a level suitable for either reuse in the HV washbay or discharge to environment. MAK Water designed and manufactured a custom SHDR plant to provide both disinfection and pH adjustment of pre-treated wastewater. MAK Water worked closely with the owner’s engineering consultant to review the HV washbay design, specific site requirements and provide the best possible solution.