Upgrade to improve plant's ability to produce biosolids for agriculture

• Webuild Group’s Australian subsidiary Clough enters alliance contract with Water Corporation

• Treatment facilities at Woodman Point Water Resource Recovery Facility located near Perth

MILAN, April 27, 2023 – The Webuild Group’s Australian subsidiary Clough is set to embark on a project that furthers sustainable development with the signing of a €147-million (AU$238 million) Alliance Contract with the public water utility, Water Corporation. Clough will lead a joint-venture called Integrate JV for the Non-Owner Participants with a 60% stake, alongside engineering firm Jacobs with the remaining 40%, to upgrade a sludge treatment process at the Woodman Point Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) in Perth, the largest wastewater treatment facility in Western Australia to produce biosolids for soil conditioning and biogas for energy use. 

The contract is the latest in a series of upgrades being conducted by the Water Corporation at the WRRF. Located in the suburb of Munster, the entire facility is the largest treatment plant in the state, serving industrial, commercial and residential customers of Perth’s southern metropolitan region. 

As in other Clough projects, the alliance contract will foster a collaborative approach by including the client, designer and builder in the approval of the budget and solutions for the development of the project.  

The contract will incorporate Thermal Hydrolysis Pre-Treatment (THP) technology. There will also be a new dewatered sludge receival facility, a new solids thickening and dewatering system and new odour treatment provisions.

Overall, the Woodman Point Water Recovery Facility has the capacity to treat up to 180 megalitres of used incoming water per day. The contract is designed to have the sludge facilities treat a solids load of 120 tonnes of dried solids per day. The biosolids can be used for agricultural purposes, such as soil conditioning. Another by-product of the treatment process is biogas, which can be used as a source of energy. 

Work is expected to be completed by mid-2026. Commissioning and testing of the new system will follow, seeing the facility being fully operational by the end of 2026.