Tropical North Queensland is home to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and brings in a large amount of tourism and revenue to the region. The area also serves as vital farming land which needs a clean environment in order to thrive. However, the wastewater treatment plants serving Cairns had a problem as it was not forecasted to meet the future EPA license conditions thus negatively impacting the marine life in local water ways with discharge. This would ultimately leave the Great Barrier Reef at risk when the largest wastewater treatment plant in Cairns would experience discharge.
An order to upgrade the plant was initiated by the Cairns City Council which contracted UGL to improve the wastewater treatment plant with a solution. A few objectives of the project were outlined by the Cairns City Council to reduce nutrients discharge into the Great Barrier Reef by up to 80%, increase treatment plant capacity and to enable the substitution of potable water with recycled water in nearby areas of the treatment plant.
The UGL Solution
After the necessary upgrades were performed, the Cairns wastewater treatment plant was on track to meet the future EPA license conditions. The improvements stemmed from UGL's turnkey operations which called for a step-by-step approach. The treatment facility underwent a full plant and process automation control system that was performed by comprehensive in-house engineering with control engineers and SCADA.
The whole project was completed within a tight timeframe which was equivalent to more than 632,000 man hours. Additionally, UGL was able to condense some work operations with special programs that reduced the overall project cost, saving the Cairns City Council and government money.
An order to upgrade the plant was initiated by the Cairns City Council which contracted UGL to improve the wastewater treatment plant with a solution. A few objectives of the project were outlined by the Cairns City Council to reduce nutrients discharge into the Great Barrier Reef by up to 80%, increase treatment plant capacity and to enable the substitution of potable water with recycled water in nearby areas of the treatment plant.
The UGL Solution
After the necessary upgrades were performed, the Cairns wastewater treatment plant was on track to meet the future EPA license conditions. The improvements stemmed from UGL's turnkey operations which called for a step-by-step approach. The treatment facility underwent a full plant and process automation control system that was performed by comprehensive in-house engineering with control engineers and SCADA.
The whole project was completed within a tight timeframe which was equivalent to more than 632,000 man hours. Additionally, UGL was able to condense some work operations with special programs that reduced the overall project cost, saving the Cairns City Council and government money.