Bakers Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant

Bakers Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant, constructed 1999, is located approximately 9 km southwest of Mackay.  The plant services a population of 6,000, which represents approximately 60% of its capacity.

A septic tank receipt facility is provided at the plant. Raw wastewater and septage enters the mechanical screening chamber where it passes through a Rotoscreen. The screenings are automatically bagged for disposal. A bypass bar screen (manually raked) can also be used in emergencies. 

Wastewater passes to a JETA grit unit where smaller inorganic particulate matter is collected for disposal then conveyed through a flow splitter into one of the Sequence Batch Reactor (SBR) basins.

The treatment plant is an extended aeration (intermittent) system with the basins functioning as both aeration and sedimentation. Effluent is aerated for biological digestion then a period of settling occurs for collection of sludge.

Effluent is decanted to a balance pond then pumped through an ultra-violet (UV) disinfection unit and to an irrigation storage lagoon.

Treated effluent is pumped off-site to a secondary irrigation storage lagoon for irrigation of adjoining sugar cane properties. Sludge is conveyed to a sedimentation type sludge lagoon. Lagoon sludge is pumped to a de-watering facility where it is dosed with polyelectrolyte and passed through a belt filter press. De-watering typically occurs on a weekly basis. De-watered sludge is transported to an impermeable bund area.