Hon. Rod Welford MLA

Minister for Environment and Heritage and Minister for Natural Resources.

response letter

24 Nov 1998.

.........With regard to plans by Caloundra City Council to recycle sewage into drinking water, as you may now be aware from recent media reports, the Council has developed an alternative proposal in relation to the effluent management/discharge strategy for the Landsborough sewage treatment scheme.

The alternative effluent discharge strategy provides more certainty in addressing environmental and health concerns and includes the following:

(i) infrastructure to allow effluent from the Landsborough sewage treatment plant to be pumped to the Kawana sewage treatment plant and discharged via the Kawana ocean outfall (if necessary); and

(ii) the opportunity for the reuse of a significant portion of the Landsborough effluent by farms and other users located along this pipeline.

The Department of Environment and Heritage has been advised that this alternative effluent management strategy was approved by Caloundra City Council on 22 October 1998 and is expected to be completed within 12 to 18 months.

An interim effluent disposal, strategy is also proposed until the alternative effluent management strategy is completed. The Council has advised that this interim effluent disposal strategy avoids the release of treated effluent to Ewen Maddock Dam.

The interim strategy also involves the following measures:

(i) limiting the quantity of effluent being treated at the plant to 2,500 - 3,000 connected equivalent persons out of the 5,000 proposed for the first stage of the scheme in combination with maximising irrigation of treated effluent on Council and private lands in the local area; and

(ii) adoption of additional best practice tertiary treatment technologies for the scheme which include ozonation and biological activated carbon processes (designed for 2,500 equivalent persons).

These amendments to the Landsborough sewage scheme address short term and long term environmental and health concerns and current negotiations by the Department with the Council in relation to licensing this activity are based on the above strategy.

Caloundra City Council's long term plans in relation to potable reuse are unknown at this stage. The State Government is currently developing effluent recycling which will consider public health and environmental issues.

signed

Steve Moriarty
Principal Advisor
(Environment and Heritage)

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