Burnie

This Burnie project is a treatment wetland system for landfill leachate

The Burnie Waste Management Centre (BWMC) Leachate Treatment project is a flagship project delivered for Burnie City Council (BCC). It is a sustainable solution for managing landfill leachate and creating a positive environmental and community legacy within a decommissioned municipal landfill site. This project involved the design and construction of a novel treatment wetland system to manage the Stage 1 Landfill leachate as an alternative to discharging to the TasWater’s sewage network.

Constructed on top of a rehabilitated landfill cell, the wetland system treats an average of 490kL of landfill leachate per day. The treatment process removes low level contaminants via a treatment train comprising a precipitation pond to remove metals, aerobic and anaerobic ponds for biological removal of ammonium nitrogen and nitrate by endemic plants, a polishing pond and final discharge to Cooee Creek via infiltration within a constructed wet eucalypt forest.

Awards and achievements

• Australasian Land and Groundwater Association (ALGA), Sustainable Remediation Project Recognition Award, 2017, Winner
• Tasmanian Community Achievement Awards, EPA Sustainability Award, 2017, Finalist
• CCF Tasmanian Earth Awards, Category 2, 2017, Finalist
• Tasmania Engineering Excellence Awards (Innovation), 2018, Winner

Key outcomes

• The discharged water quality consistently meets the stringent targets required to enable creek discharge.
• Flows have been successfully disconnected from the sewer network, reinstating environmental flows, freeing up TasWater network capacity and reducing ratepayer costs.
• The wetland system, infiltration forest and waterway now have over 70 locally endemic species, which has increased biodiversity values and created new fauna habitats.
• The community has had positive involvement in the project; 200 volunteers comprising local community members, schools and community groups helped out in the planting of the wetlands.
• The project provides opportunities for research, interpretation and project links with the University of Tasmania and school science and environmental studies.