Illawarra Wastewater Recycling Scheme, NSW

The Client's Needs

  • Improving water quality at Illawarra beaches, particularly those near Sewage Treatment plants
  • Protecting coastal waters and reducing impact on sensitive marine ecosystems, and the desire to minimise the effluents negative impacts when released to the environment
  • Supply high-quality recycled water for industrial reuse
  • Saving drinking wate


Veolia's Solution

Veolia Water Technologies was contracted by Sydney Water Corporation to design, build and provide operational advice for upgrading 3 wastewater treatment plants south of Sydney (Bellambi, Port Kembla, Wollongong) to serve 300,000 residents. 

The heart of this project is a Wastewater Recycling Plant which uses microfiltration and reverse osmosis (RO) technologies to recycle 20 ML/d of sewage for reuse by BlueScope Steel at Port Kembla.

It is one of the largest wastewater reuse facilities in Australia, equipped with the dual environmental benefits of decreasing ocean wastewater discharge volume by 40%, and decreasing the use of potable water in the steel-making process by more than 60%.

The Client
Sydney Water

Sydney Water supplies more than 1.7 billion litres of water to more than 1.6 million homes and businesses each day. It provides drinking water, wastewater services, and some stormwater services to customers in the communities of Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.