Western Wastewater Treatment Plant Refurbishment Projects

The Wellington region’s wastewater treatment plant assets are vulnerable and require regular maintenance to continue operations.  

For example, mechanical and electrical assets are at an age which make them more challenging to operate and maintain. These risks are currently being addressed through a programme of work to renew assets. This activity requires careful planning and implementation to avoid disruption to daily plant operations.

A priority at the Western Wastewater Treatment Plant is to renew and upgrade the outdated and unsupported SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and MCC (Motor Control Centre). These components are essentially the brain and nervous system of the plant and are key to ensuring plant compliance with current standards.

A carefully planned programme is underway to upgrade these components with completion expected by 2027.

Why does the Plant need upgrades?

Much of the plant’s equipment and parts are nearing the end of their service life, which means its more prone to service interruptions and needs more maintenance.

A multi-million-dollar programme of work is planned over the next seven years to renew and upgrade equipment at the plant to improve its operation, subject to funding being confirmed. This programme includes improving the reliability and effectiveness of the treatment, increasing capacity to handle population growth, and improving safety.

Sludge Management Facility

Wellington City Council is managing a project to build a new Sludge Management Facility. Find out more on the Wellington City Council website here