Bundamba Plant Captures Prestigious Global Water Project Of The Year Award
First Waters in Black & Veatch/Thiess Joint Venture Delivered 10 Months After Groundbreaking
Brisbane, Australia — Black & Veatch, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, announced recently that Stage 1A of the Bundamba Advanced Water Plant (AWTP), which produced purified recycled water only 10 months after construction began, has received the prestigious Global Water Project of the Year Award from Global Water Intelligence.
“We're very proud that we were able to play a key role in delivering this major advanced water treatment plant with high standards, on a fast track and with a superior safety record,” said Dan McCarthy, President and CEO of Black & Veatch's global water business. “This innovative, sustainable project was an integral part of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project, which ultimately will help to alleviate a water scarcity issue and provide potable water for drinking and other uses to the people of south-east Queensland.”
The Bundamba AWTP — delivered by a Black & Veatch/Thiess joint venture in partnership with Western Corridor Recycled Water Pty Ltd and the Queensland Government's Department of Planning and Infrastructure — is part of the AU $2.4 billion Western Corridor Recycled Water (WCRW) Project, the third-largest recycled water project in the world. Featuring a network of 200 kilometers of underground pipelines and three new advanced water treatment plants, the WCRW Project will ensure a secure water supply for the rapidly growing yet drought-stricken south-east Queensland region for years to come.
The Bundamba AWTP project has achieved ambitious targets during the design, construction and commissioning stages. On the former paddock where the Bundamba AWTP now sits, groundbreaking was held in November 2006. By August 2007, the plant produced purified recycled water; and Stage 1A was officially opened in September 2007, the same month in which the project exceeded the one-million-man-hour mark with zero lost-time injuries, a remarkable record for a work site with such intense activity.
“This is an excellent example of our integrated global workforce at work; it's the only way we could deliver a project of this magnitude on such a fast track,” McCarthy said. “We mobilized professionals from many different office sites and had a strong international team on the ground that was supported by global design and resource centers in Singapore, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Beijing, the United States and the UK.”
The purified recycled water from the Bundamba AWTP is piped from the plant via a 7.3-kilometer long, 800-millimeter diameter pipeline into the lake at the CS Energy Swanbank Power Station, reducing the power station's reliance on the drought-affected Wivenhoe Dam and ensuring that the power station remains available to support south-east Queensland's growing electricity needs.
The Bundamba AWTP uses the latest membrane and advanced oxidation technologies to provide purified recycled water for cooling and other purposes at the power station. The main treatment steps — ultra-filtration membranes, reverse osmosis membranes followed by advanced oxidation using ultraviolet irradiation and hydrogen peroxide — employed at the plant comprise the first large-scale indirect potable reuse scheme in Australia.
At Stage 1A, the Bundamba AWTP produces up to 20 million liters daily. Following the entire completion of the project, scheduled for December 2008, the project will be supplying up to 232 MLD of purified recycled water a day.
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients' needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black & Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, program management, construction management, environmental, security design and consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $3.2 billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six continents.
Black & Veatch's global water business provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project managers work with a global team of water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services.
SOURCE: Black & Veatch