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RWTS were subcontracted by Veolia Energy to design and manufacture a ultrafiltration system (UF) for the University of the Sunshine Coast.

 

Client: Veolia Energy; University of the Sunshine Coast (USC)

Industry: Infrastructure – School and Universities

Systems: Ultrafiltration

 

BACKGROUND

The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) is a leading tertiary education provider, catering to over 11,000 students on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. USC prides themselves on their commitment of sustainability; with an active program to better manage waste, water and recycling. In an effort to minimise the use of potable water from the local council, USC engaged Veolia Energy to implement a ultrafiltration system (UF). RWTS were subcontracted to design and manufacture the water waste management system.

The water reclamation system treated water from the on-site holding dam to a potable standard. Furthermore the water was able to be used for cooling tower makeup (through evaporation) as part of the university’s air-conditioning system.

CHALLENGES

Due to site space limitations, RWTS was required to design the plant to operate effectively within a small footprint.

THE RWTS SOLUTION

Industrial Ultrafiltration System

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RWTS developed an ultrafiltration system (UF), with pre-filtration to purify the raw lake water. This removed all suspended solids and microbes to ensure high quality treated water.

The design flux of the UF system, RWTS needed to design the system to be capable of treating up to 10 kL of net permeate production. Advanced UF modelling software allowed RWTS to develop the basis of the water reclamation design, that was signed off by Veolia Energy engineers.

Due to the challenges with width restrictions within the plant room, tall, hollow-fibre ultrafiltration membranes were chosen for the design. This minimised the system’s lateral footprint through stand height membranes. The membranes were procured from our oversea supplier through many years of R&D.

The waste generated from the ultrafiltration (UF) system through chemical cleans and enhanced backwashes was captured into a waste holding tank. It then underwent a staged correction process with validation prior to the release to the council sewer network. This process was approved by the contractor and local plumbing council, meeting the strict trade waste guideline release limits.

The operating system took the form of an Allen Bradley PLC with HMI screen. Functional description (FD) was written and programmed by our in-house electrical division for approval by Veolia Water. The water reclamation system build saw RWTS use quality analytical and pumping components from trusted suppliers, including as Grundfos, Burkert and IFM.

The project was completed and handed over to client Veolia Water in June 2019. Both the University of the Sunshine Coast and RWTS were pleased with the delivered outcome and the system is currently being managed by Veolia Energy site operators.