Sewer Mining at Curlewis Golf Club

Curlewis Golf Club has secured its future by becoming irrigation water self sufficient with an innovative sewer mining project. Raw sewage will be extracted from a rising main that runs along the Northern boundary of the golf course and processed into recycled water for course irrigation purposes using a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) and Chlorination process.

Since its formation in 1970, the Curlewis Golf Club (CGC) has relied on potable water for the majority of course irrigation, with harvested stormwater used to supplement potable supplies when available. This water strategy served the Club well until 2005/2006 when Level 4 water restrictions were imposed and rainfall at Curlewis was 276mm vs the long-term average of 625mm.

Lack of water as a consequence of these restrictions and the prolonged drought conditions had an immediate negative impact on the quality and playability of the golf course and membership levels, caused by a deterioration of the fairways and greens. The provision of modest amounts of potable water (20ML vs required 70ML) over the past 5 years have enabled turf on the greens and tees to be maintained and to survive and also to a lesser extent the fairways. As a consequence, membership levels have slowly but significantly declined in the intervening period.

Therefore securing a sustainable, reliable, and cost effective supply of irrigation water has been critical to ensure the ongoing viability and the long-term survival and growth of this important community asset.

CGC has investigated various alternate water supplies, including:

• Continued use of potable water - This option was largely discounted as future access and quantity could not be guaranteed and with the costs likely to increase rapidly by 2013. Based on indicative water costs provided, the Club would have an annual water bill in the order of $250,000.00 to $300,000.00 per year based on our estimated irrigation water requirements.
• Increasing the size of the infrastructure for stormwater harvesting and storage - This option was explored and rejected as all surface water in the area was already fully allocated.
• Groundwater - Whilst groundwater is available in the vicinity of CGC, previous investigations have shown it to be of low yield and very poor quality.
• Recycled water from sewer mining of a pressure sewer that runs along the Northern boundary of the golf course - Whilst this option would not be without significant capital investment, obtaining  recycled water from the sewer mining process appeared to be the only viable option for CGC's future supply of irrigation water which would ensure its survival and attract new Members.

The Sydney based consultancy firm of Permeate Partners was engaged as Project and Technical Consultants by CGC in March 2009 to confirm the feasibility of sewer mining at CGC and prepare a concept design of key infrastructure. A plant size of 250,000L/day was ultimately selected to produce up to 94,000,000L/year of Class B recycled water.

The proposal for the construction of this project has been positively received by Members, with 98 percent voting to accept and endorse the proposal put to them by the Club’s Committee of Management.

Following receipt of the necessary approvals and support from the Barwon Region Water Authority, a design and supply contract was awarded to the Melbourne based firm of WJP Solutions. The project having commenced in late 2010 is now in the final stages of construction and targeted to produce recycled water in mid 2011 and when in full production the plant will save some 74,000,000 litres of drinking water annually.

Once the Water Reclamation Plant is fully operational, the Curlewis Golf Club will be a fully irrigated Championship Golf Course for 12 months of the year and one of the best golf courses in the Geelong Region.

Acknowledgements:

The Club gratefully acknowledges the financial funding and/or technical support provided by the following organisations:

1. Department of Sustainability and Environment – Stormwater & Urban Recycling Fund

2. Barwon Region Water Authority

3. Smart Water Fund

Without this support, the project may not have proceeded, as the financial burden on the Club and its Members may have been too great.

Plant Process:

To provide Members and other interested parties with a general understanding as to the process involved with our Water Reclamation Plant, we have attached the following ‘Block Flow Diagram’ which indicates the flow and treatment process from the Barwon Water Rising Sewer Main to the golf course irrigation system as well as the return of the process waste to the sewer main..

Plant Photographs:

A series of photographs depicting the early days of the Plant’s construction to the present day are provided below.

Peter Penning

President

Chairman Water Resources

May 2011