Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre

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A Seymour Whyte VINCI Construction Grands Projets (Major Projects) joint venture has been awarded a significant contract by Icon Water, as part of its Major Projects Delivery Program in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The 10-year Program Delivery Agreement focuses on the design, engineering, and delivery of new wastewater treatment processes as well as major upgrades to the existing facilities to enhance the efficiency and capacity of the treatment infrastructure.

The joint venture, in collaboration with design firm BECA HunterH2O and Icon Water, is delivering major upgrades to Canberra’s Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre (LMWQCC), Australia’s largest inland wastewater treatment plant, which has been operational since the 1970s. Seymour Whyte is providing innovative, value-driven solutions for the LMWQCC Bioreactor Upgrade, increasing secondary treatment capacity by 97ML/d, alongside new coarse and fine screening and biosolids thickening facilities. Through ongoing collaboration with Icon Water, including regular Value Engineering and technical workshops throughout the RFT, ECI, and design phases, our team has introduced key engineering innovations to improve quality, optimise costs, and enhance operational efficiency, including:

• Conversion of existing MLE Bioreactor to a four-stage Bardenpho process to achieve lower TN limits and reduce chemical dosing, resulting in lower operational costs and reduction in new process capacity construction.
• Strategic relocation of fine screening ahead of pre-primary sedimentation tanks, eliminating upstream bypass requirements and delivering immediate and long-term cost savings.
• Leveraged existing pipe galleries for new pipe connections instead of installing new buried mains across site, through detailed modelling and collaboration to reconfigure galleries and provide space for new pipe runs.

By integrating these innovative engineering practices and other value-driven solutions, the joint venture, designer and Icon Water were able to collaboratively identify over $40m of capital savings for the project.

For more information about the project, visit Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre Upgrade