The North Head Sewage Treatment Plant in Sydney Harbor has recently been fitted with a $124 million hydroelectric plant which uses treated wastewater to produce electricity. This marks the first time in Australia's history that a hydroelectric plant has been used to generate power from treated sewage. This is accomplished by hydroelectric assemblies located in a 60-meter shaft that treat wastewater as it falls down. According to sydneywater.com.au, this means that the North Head plant now generates around forty percent of its own power. An article in Power Magazine discusses a brief history of this innovative technology:
"Sydney Water is pioneering the plant in Australia, but it isn't the first in the world to harness hydroelecricity from a wastewater plant. U.S.-based Aquarion Water Co. has launched a program that taps excess forces inside water pipes, using technology designed by New York alternative energy company Rentricity. That company's Flow-to-Wire system relieves excess water pressure delivered to customers at elevations lower than the water source. The inherent pressure differentials are used to spin turbines to create power."
These new approaches to otherwise wasted sources of energy are likely to become a staple of the power generation industry in the coming years. As the world's resources begin to become less and less available, companies will have to start looking for ways to generate power that would have previously been skimmed over. The application of the North Head sewage treatment plant of their wastewater to a hydroelectric power plant is just one of the few examples of how new ways of generating power can save money and improve efficiency.
To read the article from Power Magazine, follow this link:
To view the list of improvements to the North Head facility from Sydney Water, follow this one:
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