The new facility will be built on our site at 521 Craigieburn Road East, Wollert. It will be immediately south of the existing treatment plant.

We’re building a new recycled water facility in Wollert for 3 reasons:

• It’s mandated by State Government that new houses in the Northern Growth Area are built with recycled water infrastructure. Using recycled water to flush toilets, water gardens, and wash cars and clothes helps save precious drinking water.
• The capacity of our existing treatment plant is around 2.9 million litres of recycled water a day which isn’t enough to service the 160,000 homes in the Northern Growth Area in the next 20 years.
• Continued population growth in the Northern Growth Area will see more than 160,000 houses built over the next 20 years that will need water, recycled water and sewerage services.

The new facility is yet to be fully designed. When we have more detail, we’ll make this available. It is unlikely to have a visual impact for residents living to the north east of the Hume Highway.

It's unlikely there will be noticeable odours from the new recycled water facility. It will operate under strict Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) odour control requirements, and we’ll monitor the air quality with artificial ‘noses’.

We’ll deliberately design the plant to make sure the air quality is always acceptable for the local community.

We’ll include noise assessments and modelling as part of the design to make sure the facility doesn’t audibly impact the area. During construction, nearby residents may see or hear increased truck traffic to and from the site.

We don’t expect significant traffic delays or diversions on Craigieburn Road East as there’s a turning lane into our site. In the rare event of, say, an oversized load blocking a lane on its way to the site, we’ll have the necessary permits and traffic management will make the area safe to keep traffic moving.

When the new facility is up and running, we don’t expect more traffic to the site than we currently get.

Like all treatment plants, it will operate 24/7. This is to ensure we provide essential water and sewerage services 24/7 to our customers.

Chemicals are used in all recycled water facilities. They are safely stored and managed to strict conditions on site.

The liquid chemicals aren’t flammable and in the highly unlikely event of a leak, they are housed within another tank to prevent spills to the environment.

If you live in the area, your home will have recycled water plumbing and receive recycled water from us.

We’re contacting the local community and inviting them to have their say about this project as we increase our recycled water capacity for the Northern Growth Area.

We’ve written to around 8000 nearby residents and businesses with information about our project and invited them to online and in-person information sessions and to share feedback on our engagement website.

We’ve also shared our project contact details so people can contact us directly:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 9872 1563

The new facility will help improve Melbourne’s water resilience by helping to save precious drinking water. Unlike drinking water, recycled water doesn’t rely on rainfall – it is a climate resilient water supply.

Recycled water is safe to use for toilets, laundry, gardening and washing vehicles.

We’re designing the facility to manage odour constantly. The tanks within the facility are designed so nothing can leach out into the environment. In the case of chemicals stored on site, they are stored safely within another tank.

As the new facility has a bigger capacity and produces more recycled water, it will use more energy. We’ll use energy produced by our food waste to energy facility on the same site supplemented by electricity purchased from the electricity grid when needed.

Recycled water is treated sewage from showers, toilets, sinks and washing machines, produced to Class A quality, according to strict guidelines set by the Department of Health and the EPA.

These high standards are ensured through process control and quality assurance systems including continuous monitoring throughout the treatment facility.

Recycled water doesn’t rely on rainfall and is a climate resilient water supply. It’s a sustainable water source that helps to save drinking water — which is good for Melbourne’s water storages, the community and the environment.

Recycled water is safe to use for toilets, laundry, gardening and washing vehicles. Our facility at Wollert will produce the highest quality of recycled water ‘Class A’.

More information

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If your home has a separate recycled water pipe system, you can use recycled  water for:

• Flushing toilets
• Watering plants, lawn, and vegetable gardens
• Washing clothes
• Washing vehicles
• Filling pet water bowls (safe for all animals, except pigs)
• Fighting fires
• Filling ponds, fountains, and other water features, noting this water should be changed regularly.

What is recycled water NOT suitable for?

• Drinking
• Preparing food, cooking, or washing dishes
• Showering or bathing
• Evaporative coolers
• Bidets and hand-held toilet sprays
• Swimming pools and spas
• Slip and slides and other water toys

Find out more