Romsey Recycled Water Plant

The Romsey Recycled Water Plant (RWP) has been servicing the community since 1978. We're upgrading the RWP so that we can continue safely treating wastewater and grow with the Romsey and Lancefield communities.

This will include increased treatment capacity and more storage to support the region’s growing population. To date, we’ve gathered data, undertaken modelling and spoken to the Macedon Ranges community, all of which will be considerations in our future planning decisions.

About the upgrade

The RWP upgrade, which will increase the treatment capacity and provide more storage to better manage recycled water levels across the year, will help us meet the needs of the growing Lancefield and Romsey communities.

The RWP upgrade includes:

  • Two new treatment lagoons that will provide an additional 92ML of storage volume (more than 35 Olympic-sized swimming pools).
  • A new inlet pipe and inlet works into the new treatment lagoons
  • Upgrading the existing treatment lagoons to provide additional storage for recycled water
  • An upgraded pump station that uses less power and is easier to maintain
  • New infrastructure that will allow more recycled water to be safely supplied to irrigation sites near the plant
  • Two new centre pivot irrigators for faster onsite irrigation
  • The construction of a biosolids drying facility to help when biosolid build-up needs to be pumped out of the lagoons.
            Drawing of Romsey Recycled Water Plant upgrade showing two new treatment lagoons south of two new winter storage lagoons and current winter storage lagoon. Also showing location of new inlet works and pumping station west of current sewage treatment lago

            Why are we making these changes?

            • The RWP needs more storage space to reduce the risk of lagoons overflowing during heavy rain.
            • Romsey and Lancefield's population is growing, so we're increasing how much wastewater we can treat to meet the community's needs.
            • We're increasing the RWP's ability to filter large objects like tissues and grit to prevent pump blockages.

            Potential opportunities

            Since late 2022 we have been talking to the Macedon Ranges community to better understand their attitudes and values towards future water management, in particular recycled water management.

            The values, priorities and understanding of the region are important in helping us identify the best long-term solutions to protect and manage water for the Macedon Ranges environment and communities we serve.

            We're looking into four potential opportunities as part of the Romsey Recycled Water Upgrade project in line with the values the community told us were important. They include:

            • Biodiversity outcomes

              We are providing additional vegetation offsets to protect existing flora and fauna habitat and enhance the overall ecology of the local environment.

              We're also considering installing nesting boxes along Deep Creek. Nesting boxes create safe hollows for native wildlife like sugar gliders and kookaburras to next in which supports their population growth.

            • New places for recycled water

              One of the ongoing challenges is how to manage the amount of water the Plant processes. Some of the places recycled water could be used in the future include:

              • parks and gardens
              • local waterways (where it could benefit the environment)
              • sporting fields
              • approved types of farming like livestock grazing and wine grapes.

            • New water filtration technology

              We're trialing new water filtration technology to see how we can improve our recycled water treatment method, beyond our existing lagoon treatment process.

              We'll share our data and learnings from the trial with the community.

            • New wetlands

              Establishing wetlands near the plant could provide a pathway for managing recycled water and stormwater.

              The wetlands would also create breeding sites and new habitats for native animals like frogs, insects, and birds.

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