Victorian Water Minister The Hon Peter Walsh MLA and Federal Member for Corangamite Darren Chessman MP officially unveiled the $42 million Black Rock Recycled Water Plant west of Melbourne.
The cutting-edge facility will produce recycled water for new growth centres including Armstrong Creek and Torquay north.
New residents in Armstrong Creek will soon have access to highly treated Class A recycled water for watering gardens, washing cars and flushing toilets. Recycled water will also be available for recreational areas such as parks and sporting grounds. The first Class A recycled water is expected to flow through the dedicated ‘purple pipe’ network when infrastructure is complete in early 2014.
The Armstrong Creek project is expected to save up to 2,400 million litres of drinking water a year. New developments in Torquay North will free up a further 350 million litres annually.
The Australian Government provided $10 million toward construction of the plant and a further $10.5 million for recycled water infrastructure in the Torquay growth corridor.
The recycled water plant is located in the 400-hectare Black Rock environmental precinct in Connewarre; between Torquay and Barwon Heads. The precinct is also home to the existing water reclamation facility, biosolids drying facility, recycled water demonstration farm, community bike path and buffer land.