Belmont

The Belmont Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) serves the areas of the eastern side of Lake Macquarie from Charlestown and Redhead in the North, to Swansea in the South.

It currently treats 30 megalitres per day and can handle wastewater from a population equivalent to 115,000 people.

The Belmont WWTW provides secondary treatment of the wastewater and is designed to remove nutrients (nitrogen & phosphorus).

Sewage receives primary treatment consisting of screening with automatic step screens and de-gritting in a vortex grit removal system. Screenings are washed and compacted and the grit is washed and dewatered before being disposed of into industrial bins for disposal to landfill.

A soil bed filter treats odours from the covered inlet works.

Biological treatment occurs in aeration tanks fitted with diffused aeration followed by clarification. Waste activated sludge is thickened in a dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit and pumped to aerobic digesters for stabilisation. The stabilised sludge is dewatered with two centrifuges.

All biosolids produced at the Belmont WWTW are beneficially used in minesite rehabilitation and pasture improvement projects.

All treated effluent is discharged to the Pacific Ocean through a 1.5 km ocean outfall. The outfall outlet structure consists of 112 diffusers.