Karuah Wastewater Treatment Works
The Karuah Wastewater Treatment Works serves the township of Karuah and utilises its recycled water for a mix of off and on site purposes.
It currently treats 0.34 megalitres per day and can handle wastewater from a population of up to 1,450 people.
Operation
Karuah Wastewater Treatment Works provides secondary treatment of the wastewater through the following process:
- Screening of solids and grit removal;
- Extended aeration through intermittently decanting aeration tanks for nutrient removal (nitrogen only);
- UV disinfection of treated effluent;
- Lagooning of biosolids for later dewatering and re-use in mine site rehabilitation projects
Recycling and reuse
All biosolids produced at the plant are beneficially used for mine site rehabilitation.
Recycled water is used for:
- grit and screening washing
- general wash down around site
- grounds irrigation
- irrigation for a range of fodder crops.
This water is also reused onsite at our Karuah Effluent Reuse Enterprise (KERE), which is adjacent to the Karuah Wastewater Treatment Works.
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).