The new $94 million water treatment plan in Corio, Victoria has officially opened for business, and is set to save en estimated 2 billion litres of drinking water every year.

State Minister for Water, Peter Walsh, said that the new Northern Water Plant is a unique facility that combines several key functions into one facility by providing domestic industrial wastewater treatment, advanced treatment for recycled water and supply to industry. 

“The Northern Water Plant treats sewage and trade waste from Geelong’s northern suburbs to produce Class A recycled water for the Shell Geelong Refinery,” Mr Walsh said.

“It will save about five per cent of Geelong’s current annual consumption, while the high-quality recycled water will also be available for other uses.

“Although there are other plants like this in Australia, the Northern Water Plant is the only facility that generates the highest class of recycled water from sewage containing such a high proportion of industrial wastewater.

The Victorian Coalition Government has contributed $9.2 million, Barwon Water $17.5 million, the Australian Government $20 million, and Shell $47.5 million to the plant.