Contract awarded for water recycling plant

A ground-breaking water-efficient housing estate in Victoria will soon have its own onsite water recycling plant.

Hydroflux has been awarded the contract to design, build and operate the facility based at the Aquarevo estate in the Melbourne suburb of Lyndhurst. Minister for planning Sonya Kilkenny officially announced the deal on Friday.

Developed on a former wastewater treatment plant, Aquarevo is a collaboration between government-owned South East Water and Villawood Properties to create Australia’s most water efficient urban housing development.

Using Australia-first technology, the facility will treat around 52 million litres of water a year and recycle it back to residents’ homes for use for non-drinking purposes such as toilet flushing, for use in the garden, or in washing machines.

Construction of the water recycling plant will begin early 2025 and will be operational by late 2026. The facility has been designed to look like a natural garden within a greenhouse to blend into the surrounding landscape.

Aquarevo residents benefit from a number of water-efficient features and receive three types of water plumbed straight to their homes to reduce their reliance on drinking water. The 460 homes within the Aquarevo estate on average use 40% less drinking water than typical homes in the South East Water network, and some are achieving a reduction of around 60%.

Each home has a 2,400-litre tank to capture rainwater from the roof. The rainwater then undergoes screening, filtration, UV and heat treatment, before supplying hot water taps in the shower, bath, laundry trough and clothes washing machine.

South East Water managing director Lara Olsen said Aquarevo is a working example of using an integrated water management approach to deliver water services and to reduce the impact of urbanisation on water supplies and local environments.

“We’re excited to work with Hydroflux to deliver Australian-first water treatment services to our customers that will reduce reliance on previous drinking water across our network in Melbourne’s south east,” she said.