University of Queensland needed a sewage and wastewater treatment plant upgrade to manage sewage from its Gatton campus, but also from nearby research facilities and restaurants.
Aerofloat’s engineers designed a sewage treatment plant that would allow for the area’s high rainfall periods and ensure the strict effluent guidelines were met.
Given the remote site, the system was fitted with intelligent HMI and remote monitoring capabilities to allow operators access when not on site as well as remote support from Aerofloat’s engineers.
The University of Queensland recently worked with Aerofloat to create a wastewater treatment design that was sensitive to the historical significance of its Gatton site. The plant predominantly managed sewage from the regional campus, but also from nearby research facilities and restaurants.
“I found they’ve got a very good, strong background in process engineering, and having had a background in process engineering, I could see they were very experienced and contemporary process engineers.
I found them to be very good communicators, and they shoot straight. They worked on fact not fiction, so I felt that was really good to work through this.”
– Brad Taylor, Associate Director, Civil Infrastructure Engineering, University of Queensland
The University of Queensland (UQ) recently worked with Aerofloat to create a wastewater treatment design that was sensitive to the historical significance of its Gatton site. The US Army had constructed the existing wastewater treatment plant at the Gatton campus in the early 1940s, so the site had heritage listing.
The plant predominantly managed sewage from the regional campus, but also from nearby research facilities and restaurants.
General Manager, Michael Anderson, said that Aerofloat’s unique solution was designed to meet the needs of the remote site, including Queensland’s high rainfall.
“Due to fluctuations in population relative to semester dates, as well as variable high rainfall periods, allowances for changes in peak flows needed to be accommodated in the design,” said Anderson.
Working with a third party contractor, UQ drew on Aerofloat’s design experience to create a sewage treatment plant that would require minimal operator maintenance and ensure compliant effluent. The University’s Associate Director of Civil Infrastructure Engineering, Brad Taylor, found working with Aerofloat a rewarding experience.
“We were looking for a very reliable technology that didn’t have much operator input, and also, not a high maintenance requirement. We wanted something that was able to have a long-lasting life, but also fluctuate from being a low flow to a high flow situation.” said Taylor.
Aerofloat’s experience in sewage treatment plant design and construction, in particular its expertise and innovative work in SBRs ensured a robust design for UQ.
Aerofloat’s design included a fine screen to remove larger particles up front, followed by an anoxic flow balancing tank. This balance tank was used for the denitrification process and to also manage peak flows.
The air lock syphon decanter in Aerofloat’s two Sequence Batch Reactors (AeroSBRs) provided UQ with a cost effective alternative to other technologies on the market.
Chemical dosing systems to manage pH correction, control precipitating Phosphorus and condition the sludge, as well as systems to manage dewatering were included in the design.
“So far, we’ve found Aerofloat to have been able to being either on-site or in the background, able to assist with any problems that we’ve had. The system is completely online, so we have a constant attention to any alarms through Aerofloat, and they’re always on the phone if we need to ask any questions” said Taylor.
Aerofloat’s sewage treatment plant was designed to be robust enough to endure the variable rainfall periods in Queensland whilst being aesthetically sensitive to the historical significance of the site.
“We were able to build adjacent to the historical site and ensure it retained its heritage listing,” said Anderson.
The completed works ensured environmental compliance for UQ and allowed for a higher treatment load capacity in the future. The system has been operational since March 2023 and the results have been outstanding.
“We’re seeing 2mg/L BOD which is well below the required levels and seeing 8mg/L of suspended solids, also excellent,” said Taylor.
The system is also completely removing ammonia and has very low nitrate and phosphorus.
“It’s doing even better than we expected and we haven’t required nutrient removal so that’s an added benefit. Being able to nitrify all the ammonia is always good for a treatment plant and this is achieving that,” said Taylor.
Taylor predicts the Gatton plant will be yet another hallmark project for Aerofloat.
“The engineers at Aerofloat work on fact, not fiction. It’s been terrific working with such strong communicators to achieve excellent results,” said Taylor.
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