Tallangatta’s sewer treatment plant upgrade
18 January 2023
A major upgrade of Tallangatta’s sewage treatment plant will help North East Water cater for future population growth.
Over $3 million has been spent on transforming the plant, converting it from a mechanical operation to a lagoon based process.
Senior Project Engineer, Miguel De Oliveira, said the lagoon approach is a low cost, passive way of treating sewage.
“Not only does it reduce carbon emissions produced in powering the plant, but it also decreases the risk of odour escaping from the facility”, Mr De Oliveira said.
“The town’s original plant was built in the 1950’s and this completed upgrade will cater for 40 plus years of future population growth.
“Capacity has been increased from 115 million litres of treated sewage a year, to around 190 million litres annually.
“The modernisation also makes it safer for our staff by reducing the amount of manual handling that was previously needed at the plant.
“Projects like this can span many years in the planning, design and construction process, and it’s really exciting to see it come together with great outcomes for the community and environment.”
The upgrade will allow for increased volumes of wastewater, however as with all new development proposals, developers are required to submit detailed engineering and feasibility assessments and costings ahead of any approvals.
Developers will be expected to pay for any required infrastructure as part of providing, maintaining and extending infrastructure for new customers.
This project is an important component of North East Water’s regional $286 million investment in new and upgraded water and sewer infrastructure during the 2018-26 pricing plan.