Major project milestone hit as North Head team top out two digesters

The North Delivery Team North Head Biosolids Upgrade Project has completed a significant milestone: the final central concrete pour for two new digesters.

With a diameter of 21.42 meters, standing 17.94 meters high, and a capacity of 4383.7 cubic meters each, the new digesters are part of the long-term solids stream capacity increase for the North Head Plant and meet Sydney Water's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving a circular economy by converting wastewater into valuable resources.

The project team worked diligently to ensure everything went smoothly.

For North Head Lead Adrian Turner, completing these two new digesters is a considerable achievement, demonstrating the team's commitment to delivering high-quality infrastructure that meets the community's and the environment's needs.

"This project has been in the works for many years, so completing the digester civil structures is an important milestone marking the completion of the project's major civil works build component," Adrian said.

All necessary safety precautions were taken to ensure the well-being of everyone involved.

"The completion of the new digesters will ensure that as Sydney's population grows over the next 20 years, the North Head Treatment Plant can continue to effectively capture, process, and recover beneficial resources from the biosolids component of the wastewater," he said.

With approximately 1391 cubic meters of S50 concrete poured into both tank, Civil Project Engineer on the project, Prashant Chaudhary, said it has been a long journey to get to this point.

"The team have worked so diligently, each pour monitored closely, with every precaution taken to ensure the team's safety and that the concrete works met Sydney Water's quality specifications," Prashant said

"When we completed on March 14th, we were so thrilled, and we look forward to continuing to work towards the successful completion of the project and achieving Sydney Water’s sustainability goals," he said.

This project is an important step towards meeting Sydney Water's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving a circular economy by converting wastewater into valuable resources.

With the concreting complete, the project's next stage can commence, starting with hydrostatic testing on both structures to verify they are watertight.

Once confirmed, the mechanical and electrical installation works will continue over the next 12 months, and then the commissioning will commence putting these digesters into service.

"We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our partners, stakeholders and team members who have worked tirelessly to bring this project to fruition," Prashant said.

It was a collaborative effort, and we could not have completed this stage of the project without your hard work and dedication," Prashant said.

Congratulations everyone on this huge achievement.

The project team celebrate the milestone with a site BBQ