TasWater has closed down its Margate Sewage Treatment Plant following the construction of a new sewage pump station and emergency retention storage basin at the Dru Point facility.
From now on, all sewage is pumped from Margate through a 15km pipeline to the Blackmans Bay Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).
TasWater CEO, Michal Brewster, said the closure of the treatment plant is a milestone worth celebrating for the Margate community.
“Built back in the 1960s the treatment plant at Dru Point has been underperforming for some time,” Mr Brewster said.
Two large underground tanks have been installed to hold sewage before it is pumped to Blackmans Bay STP with one of the existing lagoons repurposed as additional above ground emergency storage.
This emergency facility is a backup to prevent any sewage entering the environment in case extended power outages or an extreme flood event impacts on the pump’s operation.
“With the sewage treatment plant replaced by the pump station and the upgraded Blackmans Bay treatment plant now online, the $50 million project to modernise Kingborough’s sewage network is coming to fruition,” Mr Brewster said.
“One of the best outcomes from the closure of the Margate STP is that effluent is no longer discharged into North West Bay.
“Sewage treatment is now centralised through the Blackmans Bay site where it will comply with current environmental standards and with the effluent dispersed into the deeper waters of the lower Derwent and Storm Bay.”
The new Margate pump station will allow decommissioning of the now redundant treatment lagoons with remediation of the site expected to be complete by mid-2019.
TasWater is now finalising work on a similar retention pond at the Electrona STP which will likewise be converted to a pump station and also closed down.
