What Is Wastewater?
Wastewater is defined as the liquid waste generated by a community. Wastewater actually contains about 99.9% of pure water and 0.1% of solids by weight. Wastewater comes from a combination of homes, local commercial and light industrial sites such as hotels, clubs, caravan parks, restaurants, commercial laundries, petrol stations and hospitals. It does not include roof water or surface runoff generated at these properties, although in periods of heavy rainfall, a significant amount of surface runoff finds its way into the sewerage network which can cause high inflow problems at the wastewater treatment plants.
Council employs a range of wastewater treatment processes at the treatment plants to remove solid waste from the water, so that it can be safely recycled and used for irrigation purposes or returned to the environment.
For more information, watch the ‘Our Wastewater Treatment’ videos below that takes you on a journey on how your waste is handled once it goes down your drains at home.
Our Wastewater Treatment Plants
Port Douglas WWTP
Location: Port Road, Port Douglas
Service Area: Port Douglas, Craiglie
Capacity: 21,000 people or 5.7 ML/day
Treatment Process:
Sequencing batch reactor. Effluent is disinfected with ultraviolet light and then used for recycled water or discharged to Dickson’s inlet. Sludge is dewatered from an aerobic digestion system using a belt filter press and then sent to agricultural users for beneficial reuse.
Recycled water initiatives:
Class B recycled water, suitable for controlled irrigation is pumped to the golf courses at the Grand Sheraton Mirage and the Palmer Sea Reef resorts. Recycled water is also used at the plant for wash down purposes.
Mossman WWTP
Location: Junction Road, Mossman
Service Area: Mossman, Mossman Gorge community, parts of Cooya.
Capacity: 6,000 people or 1.65 ML/day
Treatment Process: Oxidation ditch with clarifier. Treated effluent is chlorinated and discharged to the Mossman River. Sludge is de-watered via a sludge lagoon and a belt filter press. Dewatered sludge is then sent to agricultural users for beneficial reuse. There is currently no facility to treat the effluent to a higher standard that can be used for irrigation.
Contact
If you would like more details or assistance, please contact Council’s Plumbing and Drainage Inspector on (07) 4099 9444 or email enquiries@douglas.qld.gov.au.
