Mount Barker Wastewater Facility

Mount Barker District Council is working hard to improve its environmental performance with respect to the treatment of wastewater. A condition of Council’s wastewater licence with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is the development of an approved Environmental Improvement Program (EIP).

A draft EIP went out to community consultation in May and the final program was endorsed by Council at its June meeting.

Last month, Council’s EIP was officially approved by the Environment Protection Authority.

Mayor Ann Ferguson says, “Council’s Wastewater Environmental Improvement Program demonstrates leadership in the protection and enhancement of the local environment.”

The overarching requirement of the EIP is for council to minimise the discharge of treated wastewater to Mount Barker Creek and maximise the use of recycled water coming from the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The EIP will result in improvements to the Mount Barker Creek and the Laratinga Wetlands over the longer term and this in turn will benefit those people in the community that live or recreate along the creek.

“As we deal with issues around climate change and population growth, we need to make sure our wastewater management is able to meet these challenges now and for future generations.” Mayor Ferguson added.

The approved Mount Barker Wastewater Environmental Improvement Program can be viewed from Council’s Your Say website https://yoursay.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/mount-barker-wastewater-facility

Mount Barker District Council is upgrading SA’s largest Council operated wastewater treatment facility over the next 2-3 years at an estimated cost of $9-9.5m.

Mayor Ann Ferguson said the city’s wastewater treatment facility, located in Mount Barker, has aging infrastructure and has gone through many upgrades including the establishment of Laratinga Wetland in the 1990s. This next upgrade is necessary to see the facility adequately treat the increasing volume of wastewater and to annually provide in excess of 1,000 million litres (1 gigalitre) of recycled water to surrounding business, local parks and gardens.

Council’s wastewater treatment facility currently services the townships of Mount Barker, Littlehampton, Nairne and Brukunga.

“As demand for wastewater services continues to grow, our treatment facility is nearing capacity and is no longer efficient. This upgrade will address the community’s concern for the local environment by producing better-quality recycled water” adds Mayor Ferguson.

Mayor Ferguson explained that a number of upgrade options were considered by Council and a staged approach is the most cost effective, starting immediately with improvements to processes that will increase capacity and meet demand in areas of microfiltration, treatment, regulation and seasonal control of water to Laratinga Wetland.

“The upgrades will improve the quality of Council’s recycled water from our treatment facility, which will understandably have a positive impact on our local environment as well as supporting future productive re-use opportunities for the water thereby growing our economy” said Mayor Ferguson.

Mayor Ann Ferguson said “Council knows how important Laratinga Wetland is to our community and is committed to maintaining this vital asset into the future”.

“At the moment our wastewater treatment facility is producing more recycled water than the wetland requires, so it is essential we take steps to minimise impacts and continue to improve and enhance the experience for locals and visitors” adds Mayor Ferguson.

Mount Barker District Council is working hard to improve its environmental performance with respect to the treatment of wastewater. An Environmental Improvement Program has been carefully prepared to describe how Council will achieve improvements in environmental management at the Mount Barker Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Mayor Ann Ferguson says, “As we deal with issues around climate change and population growth, we need to make sure our wastewater management is able to meet these challenges now and for future generations.”

The program defines the key high priority actions Mount Barker District Council is pursuing to achieve its environmental goals. The benefits of the plan include, improved:

• Environmental performance,
• Accountability and transparency between Council and the community, and
• Protection of our natural environment.

The plan was updated and approved by the EPA in November 2021.