Water Corporation of Western Australia – Operating Groundwater Augmentation project supplying 2 million people
Australia’s first full-scale Groundwater Replenishment Scheme is located in Perth’s northern suburbs, in Craigie, Western Australia. It started recharging recycled water to Perth’s deep aquifers in 2017.
Wastewater undergoes rigorous treatment at the Beenyup Water Resource Recovery Facility before reaching an Advanced Water Recycling Plant, where it undergoes further treatment that includes ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection. This removes chemicals and micro-organisms to meet Australian guidelines for drinking water.
Due the impacts of climate change on Perth, a decision was made in July 2016 to expand the Groundwater Replenishment Scheme. This provided a new climate-independent water source to boost much needed drinking water supplies in Perth. Construction of the new Advanced Water Recycling Plant started in late 2017 and was completed in late 2019. The new offsite recharge and monitoring bores were drilled between late 2017 and early 2018 with the above-ground bore infrastructure constructed in 2019. The pipeline was constructed in sections from early 2018 to mid-2019.
The Stage 2 expansion became fully operational in August 2022, doubling the scheme’s recharge capacity from 38 million litres (10 million gallons) per day, to 76 million litres (20 million gallons) per day of water. This equates to 4% of Perth’s Integrated Water Supply Scheme annual production.
Having successfully gained and maintained community support for groundwater replenishment, Water Corporation took the decision to move to a largely online educational presence to provide the community with the opportunity to learn about the concept and project.
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What happens at a Water Resource Recovery Facility
A quick behind-the-scenes look at what happens to wastewater once it arrives at one of our Water Resource Recovery Facilities – a special type of wastewater treatment plant – and how the water continues on its journey.
Treated wastewater from Beenyup WRRF is transferred to our Advanced Water Recycling Plant to be further treated and eventually used to replenish Perth’s groundwater aquifers.
What happens at an Advanced Water Recycling Plant
A quick overview of our Advanced Water Recycling Plant processes.
After we’ve treated wastewater at our Beenyup Water Resource Recovery Facility, a portion travels to our Advanced Water Recycling Plant, to be further treated to drinking water standards. We then pump it back into the ground to help replenish Perth’s groundwater aquifers.