Central Coast Council’s $15 million upgrade to the Wyong South wastewater treatment plant has reached another important milestone.

Council’s Manager of Wyong Water Commercial and Planning, Mr Greg Cashin said the new inlet structure was now fully operational.

“Wyong South treatment plant receives wastewater from a wide area - spanning from Watanobbi and Wadalba in the north to Ourimbah in the South and to Berkeley Vale and Tumbi Umbi in the east,” said Mr Cashin.

“This equates to about 11 million litres of wastewater entering the plant every day.

“Transferring the flow of wastewater from the old inlet structure to the new one is no mean feat. We have to temporarily turn off all incoming pumping stations, before isolating the pipes, making the required changes and hooking them up to the new system.

“The work needs to be undertaken during the night when the wastewater pumping stations are not receiving as much flow.

“The pumping stations that feed into the treatment plant have now been successfully connected to the new structure, which is a fantastic milestone to have reached.”

Upgrade works on the treatment plant completed so far include the emptying, maintenance and refitting of all mechanical and electrical components in the four aeration tanks, new decanters on two tanks, the construction of a new electrical room, inlet structure and odour control system.

Council’s Administrator Mr Ian Reynolds, said the upgrades to this vital service would benefits residents now and into the future.

“Once this upgrade is complete, local residents should notice reduced odour - the system being installed is best practice and when operational will reduce the impact of the treatment plant on the surrounding area,” Me Reynolds said.

“As the areas that feed into the plant grow, we also need to ensure that we can efficiently and effectively treat the waste generated.

“This $15 million investment will increase capacity and efficiency of the plant for the future and ensure the needs of our growing community continue to be met.”

The remaining upgrade works on Wyong South treatment plant are expected to be completed early in 2017.