West Camden Water Recycling Plant Upgrade

On Wednesday 23 August things were flying high at the West Camden Water Recycling Plant, namely the fixed lid that sits atop the plant's newest Digester.

A crowd of onlookers gathered around to watch as the 13m diameter lid which weighs 22.5 tonne lifted into position.

The lid was pre-fabricated off site using a variety of mild steel components and brought to the West Camden site in two pieces, due to its oversized dimensions. It was then placed on purpose built trestles, where it was aligned and levelled, ready for lifting onto the newly constructed 10m high Digester (concrete tank).

Before it was lifted, handrails were installed around the lid and the team from Hydroflux Epco and Nepean Engineering & Innovation spent three weeks completing the welding, grit blasting and painting activities to join the two pieces together. The remaining fixtures were then installed atop the lid before it was lifted into position.

After many quality checks, risk assessments, and approvals, the team from WGC Cranes used their 160 tonne crane to lift the lid into position with millimetre precision.

Passers-by during the lift could have easily mistaken the lid for another type of flying object (maybe if it was at night with lights on). Whilst the lid is in position, the arduous task of drilling 180 holes 270mm deep into the concrete structure to secure it in place now begins.

Established in 1996, National Tree Day has grown into Australia's largest community tree-planting and nature care event. The program is a call to action for all Australians to get their hands dirty and give back to their community.

On Sunday 30 July we partnered with our delivery contractor Downer|BMD, Camden Council and the local community to plant a total of 3,000 native plants at Elizabeth Macarthur Reserve.

The sunny winter morning was perfect for the 160 community volunteers and project representatives that came to the tree planting event to support the reinstatement of native tree species intended to stabilise the banks of the waterway and prevent erosion.

The existing vegetation at the site consisted of exotic and weed species. Our restoration works resulted in the removal of these weeds, replacing them with 3,000 native species from the River Flat Eucalypt Forest plant community.

Project works include:

• planting of 3,000 native species from the River Flat Eucalypt Forest species palette as part of National Tree Day
• woody weed removal with material mulched onsite; Site preparation to get the area ready for planting
• installation and maintenance of erosion control measures
• maintenance and watering to ensure successful establishment of the plants.

We will be working overnight to allow our delivery partner Downer|BMD to start building the Blower Switch Room at the WRP.

As part of the upgrade, we need to extend our work hours to complete steel fixing and formwork activities. The work will be carried out over specific nights only and will not be performed greater than two consecutive nights. This work will be completed between 11 April and 30 June 2023 from 6pm to 7am, weather permitting.

We will be updating this article as dates become available on night works.

Our standard working hours will not change. We will continue to work Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm and Saturdays from 7am to 5pm. We will not work on Sundays or Public Holidays.

We will make every effort to reduce any impact this work may have on you.

This week we celebrated Harmony Day at West Camden WRP with our team from Downer|BMD. Harmony Day is a time for everyone to celebrate the enormous benefits of multiculturalism. The day recognises the importance of cultural respect, participation, and inclusiveness for everyone who calls Australia home.

During our celebrations we took the opportunity to ask our 110 employees and subcontractors on site that day a bit about their background and heritage.

Here’s what we found out:

• 38% were born in Australia, 26% in Ireland, 16% in Mongolia and 22% in other countries.
• There are 27 different nationalities with Irish and Mongolian ranking two of the highest.
• Our team speaks 18 different languages other than English.

The ‘loss of hollow-bearing trees’ is a key threat listed under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 with approximately 20% of native fauna species relying on tree hollows for roosting, nesting and breeding.

Earlier this month, ecologists installed 10 nest boxes into mature Eucalyptus moluccana (Grey Box) and Eucalyptus tereticornis (Forest Red Gum) trees at the West Camden WRP. The nest boxes were made from salvaged hollows from three hollow bearing trees that were felled earlier in the project.

The nest boxes were attached to trees using the Habisure System, using appropriate material that does not damage the recipient tree. A soft plastic-coated wire with a coil or spring and hosepipe is used to secure the hollow to the tree to allow the tree to grow unimpeded.

Having natural variation in hollow sizes and shapes, and with their positioning in different trees we will create a habitat for a range of native fauna including small parrots, microbats and other hollow-dwelling mammals.

The Environmental team will eagerly monitor the hollows as the project continues.

Our construction team will be taking a well earned break over the Christmas and New Year period with no works being carried out from Friday 23 December 2022 until Tuesday 3 January 2023. The existing treatment plant will operate as usual during this period.

From the Sydney Water and Downer BMD team, we wish you a joyous and happy holiday season, as well as the very best wishes for Christmas and new year!

Sydney Water is upgrading the West Camden Water Recycling Plant (WRP) to increase its treatment capacity.

Our team worked hard to adapt to the challenges and we thank you for your patience and support during this time. The project is 40% complete and we aim to have the new plant in operation by the end of 2023.

From Monday 5 December 2022 until Friday 30 June 2023, we will extend our work hours to allow extra time for concrete pours and reduce risk of heat stress to our workers in hot weather.

Our extended work hours will be from 5am to 6pm Monday to Friday. There will be no change to the Saturday work hours, which are 7am to 5pm.

We will not work on Sundays or Public Holidays.

If you would like to know more, please contact our community engagement team on WestCamdenWRP@sydneywater.com.au.

Due to the heavy rain, we could not divert the pipes last week.

The new date for this night work is Monday 17 October 2022. We will start at 9pm and are planning to be finished by 6am Tuesday 18 October 2022 (weather permitting).

The diversion will involve saw cutting the existing pipe and putting in a temporary diversion while the upgrade takes place. These works need to be undertaken at night when flows are low so it will not impact ongoing operations of the plant.

You may experience:

• Noise: Our team will make every effort to limit the need for jackhammering where possible to minimise noise. In addition, we will have noise mitigation measures in place, such as fence panels.
• Light: we have installed lighting towers which will be positioned away from properties or impact drivers passing by the site.

Our standard working hours will not change. We will continue to work Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm and Saturdays from 7am to 5pm. We will not work on Sundays or Public Holidays.

We know our work can be disruptive, so we’ll make every effort to reduce any impact this work may have on you.

We will temporarily extend our work hours for to allow our delivery partner Downer|BMD to complete these concrete works for Membrane Bioreactors (MBR).

The construction of the MBR slabs will be poured over five large pours, each pour requiring to be completed in a single shift. The concrete pours will be completed during the earlier hours however with cooler temperatures it will take longer for the concrete to dry and finishing works to be completed.

Our works hours for the concrete pour will be from 4am to midnight.

The concrete pours will be done on the following dates:

• Monday 17 October 2022
• Wednesday 26 October 2022
  
  

Our standard working hours will not change. We will continue to work Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm and Saturdays from 7am to 5pm.

We will not work on Sundays or Public Holidays