Western Treatment Plant
Quick Facts
- Treats about 52% of Melbourne’s sewage
- Development of the site began in 1892
- Sits on about 10,500 hectares
- Recycled about 41,000 million litres of treated water (08/09) plus an extra 16,000 million litres for onsite conservation
- Generates its own electricity (biogas)
- Supports tens of thousands of birds at the site's RAMSAR listed wetlands
- Agriculture business supports sheep and cattle grazing
About the plant
The Western Treatment Plant at Werribee treats about 52% of Melbourne's sewage, or about 415 million litres a day. It serves about 1.6 million people in the central, northern and western suburbs.
The plant’s origins can be traced back to 1888 when a Royal Commission into Melbourne's public health led to a proposal for the development of a sewage farm to treat Melbourne’s waste. Previously, Melbourne's sewage was collected in open drains and discharged into the Yarra River and Hobsons Bay.
The plant is about 10,500 hectares in area and is a world leader in technical and environmental innovation.
Some of the treated effluent is used as recycled water by local customers. The remainder is discharged to Port Phillip Bay under an Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA Victoria) licence.
A major upgrade of the plant (completed in 2005) has significantly reduced the amount of nitrogen in the treated effluent that is discharged to Port Phillip Bay and significantly increased the amount of high quality recycled water available. It has also improved our ability to capture biogas to generate electricity, markedly reducing greenhouse gas and odour emissions in the process.
The Western Treatment Plant is also a haven for tens of thousands of birds and is one of the world's most significant wetlands.
Melbourne Water is replacing the sewer aqueduct that crosses the Werribee River, north of the Princes Freeway. In late July 2010 the final connection work for the new aqueduct requires opening the existing sewer. As a result, some odour is expected. This odour is an unavoidable part of the construction process and not from the Western Treatment Plant. Read more about the Werribee River Aqueduct Replacement.