Farley Wastewater Treatment Works
The Farley Wastewater Treatment Works serves parts of Maitland, including Aberglasslyn, Bolwarra, Gillieston Heights, Largs, Lorn, Oakhampton, Phoenix Park and Rutherford.
It currently treats 7.2 megalitres of effluent per day in dry weather. Recent upgrade provides capacity to treat wastewater from a population up to 59,000 people.
Operation
The Farley Wastewater Treatment Works is designed to remove nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and to provide a high level of disinfection.
The tertiary treatment of the wastewater is carried out using the following process:
- inlet works including screening and grit removal
- membrane bioreactor
- chemical dosing to remove phosphorus and for cleaning membranes
- wet weather pond
- sludge dewatering system
- advanced water recycling plant
Recycling and reuse
Recycled water is used for:
- grit and screening washing
- general wash down around the site.
A recycled water treatment plant has recently been constructed to further treat the effluent. This is to allow reuse in a nearby suburb at Gillieston Heights where 770 homes have dual reticulation.
The rest of the treated effluent is discharged to Fishery Creek which flows into Wallis Creek and then eventually into the Hunter River.
All biosolids produced at the Farley Wastewater Treatment Works are beneficially used for mine site rehabilitation and pasture improvement projects.
At Hunter Water, we recycle approximately 5,000 megalitres of effluent per year. Learn more about our recycling and reuse initiatives.
Environmental Licence Monitoring
Pollution monitoring data is collected by Hunter Water, as required under the Environment Protection Licences (EPL) issued by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA).