Taylor Environmental have undertaken the design, controls philosophy, documentation and preliminary pricing for a new water treatment plant at Numinbah Correctional Centre. This replacement 100kL/d plant will incorporate sand filtration, UV and Chlorine disinfection. Monitoring will be installed to ensure water meets strict quality guidelines, and minimises losses to backwash which were using large amounts of water in the existing plant.

The collection of greywater from showers, washing machines and sinks across the 7 storey site, treating it and using the recycled water for toilet flushing will save up to 2.5kL of potable water every day in this government building. This installation, designed and project managed by Taylor Environmental is believed to be a first for a commercial government building in Queensland. Design Manager James Foster says: "Taylor Environmental are providing design and technical expertise together with project management skills to deliver this project on time and on budget". Being a novel project, there are however, extra hoops to jump though. "Crossing the t and dotting the i's is all part of the day job when it comes to implementing a project which hasn't been undertaken before in Queensland. We hope that the success of this demonstration project will pave the way for greywater treatment to be rolled out into government and private sector buildings across the state".

Department of Public Works have engaged Taylor Environmental as technical consultants to conduct rolling audits and performance optimisation of a number of sewerage treatment plants throughout Queensland. In two separate engagements, Taylor Environmental are providing senior technical expertise and managing upgrades and rectification works at STPs in Correctional Centres and in schools throughout the state to ensure the STPs are achieving compliance with their environmental licenses and to optimise opportunities for effluent reuse. Works programs for each STP include implementation of audit outcomes, including full operator training, preparing and updating operator manuals, preparing and updating site based management plans, implementing routine soil and effluent monitoring programs, equipment upgrade, EPA reporting and process engineering and rectification works as required.

Ongoing Client Support – working together

Taylor Environmental have been providing ongoing support to the Department of Public Works Environmental Engineering Division covering all aspects of water management within the division, including process engineering for water/ wastewater and greywater treatment, preparing and reporting on WEMPs, project management of WEMP outcomes, treatment plant auditing, process optimisation and rectification, sub-metering, Green Star planning, water demand management planning, water supply management and environmental compliance management. Through the support given by Taylor Environmental, this small team of 8 people was able to scoop 2 (of 6) Public Service Excellence Awards in 2008. We offer them our congratulations and are very proud to be working closely with this team!

Taylor Environmental worked with a project team including Department of Public Works, Q Build and GHD to rectify a sewerage treatment plant which has been exceeding EPA license limits for nitrates and pH for some time. Due to the location of the STP next to a protected wetland, and the lack of a full time operator, it was important to deliver robust and long term solutions. Taylor Environmental have been able to identify a solution where previous consultants have withdrawn from the project without success. Through installation of a new DO probe and aeration system, together with carbon dosing and modification of alum dosing, the treatment plant has been shown to consistently meet performance requirements. The project has operated as a trial for the design and implementation of methanol dosing in small (<100 EP) treatment plants. The success of this project has resulted in Taylor Environmental being engaged by Department of Public Works to resolve performance problems on a number of other treatment plants in schools around Queensland.

Taylor Environmental are currently undertaking a biosolids treatment / disposal upgrade for Woodford Correctional Centre. This upgrade includes looking at the economics of options and providing the best commercial solution for the plant at up to 1500EP capacity. Biosolids currently are either dried in an undercover shed or put through a hired Belt Press. The proposed system for the centre is a polymer dosing system, belt press and contracted off-site disposal. Taylor Environmental are providing the process design, procurement, construction supervision and commissioning of the new system on behalf of QBuild and the Department of Corrective Services.

Taylor Environmental has assisted Ipswich Water with a program to audit high water use businesses in the Ipswich region. This program was additional to the scope of the WEMP compliance audits (which Taylor Environmental also provided support for) and was designed to assist Ipswich Water to better understand the nature of water use in Ipswich businesses and the risks to those businesses should water supply disruptions occur. Through this program Taylor Environmental audited and reported on water use in numerous Ipswich businesses including schools, concrete batching plants, manufacturing (including paper, plastics, pipes and other), rail facilities and food processing facilities.

Taylor Environmental prepared the WEMP for Cook Australia, a manufacturer of medical equipment including IVF needles, media and stents for blood vessel repair. Water efficiency in this manufacturing facility must account for stringent quality control. Without compromising medical sterility of the products, Taylor Environmental was able to assist Cook through:

• Increases in efficiencies from better utilisation of plant;
• Decreases in water consumption due to increased staff awareness;
• A significant reduction in time for flushing of IVF products implemented in early 2007;
• Changes in procedures including running RO units and sterilising equipment only when required;
• Ceasing of watering of grounds and gardens; and
• Upgrade program for taps, showers, toilets and urinals.

The result is a significant water saving of 48% per item produced, allowing production at the manufacturing facility to increase by over 80% while using a total of 6.5% less water annually.

With regulators becoming increasingly aware of out of licence trade waste discharges, careful design and management of trade wastes is required. Taylor Environmental were commissioned by Priestley's Gourmet Delights (manufacturers of a range of gourmet foods) to provide technical capability in designing and installing a new trade waste neutralisation skid to ensure trade waste discharge quality remained consistently within license limits. The improvements managed by Taylor Environmental reduced the amount of chemical required to neutralise trade waste discharges while improving the occupational health and safety of the dosing system. Taylor Environmental have also recommended a review of the potential for neutralisation of acid and caustic Clean In Place (CIP) washes along with a review of chemicals used.

Taylor Environmental conducted a detailed site water use audit leading into the preparation of a WEMP for the 100 year old Dairy Farmers milk manufacturing factory at Booval, Ipswich. Through the WEMP Taylor Environmental was able to assist Dairy Farmers to identify significant opportunities for water efficiency, resulting in process efficiencies and new projects which will when fully implemented see the site reduce water usage by 40%, and saving approximately $150,000 per year in water associated costs.

Dairy Farmers saving Water in Ipswich

Chris Taylor acted as WEA (Water Efficiency Assessor) for 6 SEQ Correctional Centres on behalf of Department of Public Works. The Qld Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is committed to water efficiency and have since contracted Department of Public Works and Taylor Environmental to prepare WEMPs for 3 additional Correctional Centres situated outside the geographic area requiring WEMPs. Issues covered in the correctional centre WEMPs include water use in inmate amenities, laundry and kitchen requirements, and other onsite programs such as operational dairy farms, a spectacle washing program, and on site wastewater treatment and reuse. Water efficiency programs were required to not only deliver the maximum possible water savings, but to also be appropriate for use in high security environments. All 9 correctional centres have been very successful in achieving significant reductions in water use and are implementing long term projects which will ensure water efficiency remains a key operational requirement. The combined water savings for the correctional centres was over 400ML, equivalent to an 85% reduction in water use over 4 years.

Following Chris's involvement as WEA for the Swan Bank Power Station WEMP, Taylor Environmental were able to assist CS Energy with the preparation of the WEMP report, implementation of the WEMP and various projects contained within the WEMP. As the power station was to receive recycled water from the recently upgraded Bundamba Advance Wastewater Treatment Plant, a Recycled Water Management Plan (RWMP) was required. Taylor Environmental prepared a RWMP which identified and managed any risks associated with using recycled water in the power station operations (cooling tower make up water). The RWMP allowed the power station to ultimately substitute 20 ML/ day of mains supply water with recycled water.

Taylor Environmental have been providing Ipswich Water with technical and procedural support to assist them to manage the WEMP administrative process on a secondement basis for some time. Support able to be provided by Taylor Environmental has included: WEMP assessment and processing, assisting clients to understand WEMP requirements and gain approvals, industrial water use audits, procedure development for WEMP processing and management, assessment of quarterly reports, liaison with industry and the QWC. The QWC has recently recognised the achievements made by Ipswich Water in managing the WEMP process and as other regional councils become included in the WEMP program, many are turning to Ipswich Water for advice and mentoring.

Through Department of Public Works, Taylor Environmental were engaged to manage the sub-metering of water lines within 6 SEQ correctional Centres. This project was an outcome of the WEMP process which required sub-metering of all significant end uses under Queensland Water Commission WEMP guidelines. The internal and external sub-metering involved specification of meter placement with regard given to not only water network schematics and water use characteristics, but also to restricted access and security requirements. All water meters were connected to data loggers. Almost 100 water meters were installed in total in the correctional centres.

In addition to the installation of sub-meters, other WEMP outcomes undertaken by the correctional centres included upgrades of fittings and fixtures, rainwater harvesting investigations and review of water use practices.