Two pump stations and pipelines will be upgraded as part a new $20 million sewage treatment plant in Gilgandra, NSW.
The NSW Government is committing $17.8 million to the cause, with the Gilgandra Shire Council contributing $2.2 million. The project will see a 60-year-old structure replaced with a new state-of-the-art plant that uses a high-tech activated sludge treatment system known as intermittent decanted extended aeration (IDEA).
IDEA treats sewage to a higher standard, improving effluent quality for better community and environmental outcomes.
The pump station and pipeline upgrades will see the plant become more user friendly, reliable and cost effective, reducing maintenance and expanding capacity to support a larger population.
Funding is derived from the NSW Government’s Safe and Secure Water Program, which is backing up to $1 billion of water infrastructure projects across the state.
“Our existing infrastructure is under significant strain as the 1960s design has reached the end of its useful life, and as we work towards a greater population, supported by a new industrial estate, Inland Rail, and renewable energy opportunities, the pressure on the system will only increase,” Gilgandra Shire Council mayor Doug Batten said.
“We’re making sure our community has a treatment plant capable of meeting demand while maintaining a higher-quality effluent to better protect the environment.”
Batten called the investment a “lifeline for our community”, with new wastewater infrastructure to support Gilgandra “now and for decades to come”.
Construction on the treatment plant commences in early 2026 and will be completed by the end of 2027.
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