General Manager Operations and Headworks Neville Pearce said sludge will be removed from two lagoons as part of normal plant operations.
“To ensure the continuous treatment of sewage, the sludge needs to be removed to allow more room in the lagoons for the full biological treatment time.
“Less room in the lagoons compromises treatment, which can result in lower quality recycled water produced and odours from poorer quality wastewater onsite,” Mr Pearce said.
At the Heathcote plant, this process occurs every seven to 10 years and at the Bendigo plant, every three to four years due to the much larger flows entering the plant.
“Our Bendigo plant receives about the same volume in a day that the Heathcote plant receives in a month,” Mr Pearce said.
The sludge removal process involves three stages and can take up to four months to complete.
“The works involve removing the liquid and exposing the sludge bed. This can be a source of short-term odours and can take up to a week to develop a crust that will seal them in.
“The sludge is progressively turned and dried out so it can then be transported to sludge beds at the Bendigo Water Reclamation Plant, where it will be reused in local agriculture as biosolids under EPA approved Environment Improvement Plans.
“We have odour control plans in place and weather conditions will be carefully monitored and works scheduled in response to reduce the risk of odour occurring,” Mr Peace said.
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