TREATMENT OF COOLING TOWER EFFLUENT FROM SUGAR MILL CO-GENERATIONM POWER PLANTS USING CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS

THIS paper reports on the feasibility of using constructed wetlands to reduce contaminants within cooling tower effluent, using two case studies: Sunshine Sugar’s Condong Mill in northern NSW and Rocky Point Green Power located in South-eastern Queensland. Preliminary modelling and site investigations for the treatment of cooling tower effluent from both co-generation plants indicated that constructed wetlands have the ability to significantly reduce pollutant load levels. The proposed wetlands each occupy 1.5 ha of land and are technically termed free-water surface flow wetlands. The proposed wetlands will be relatively inexpensive to build and operate (compared to other engineered water treatment technologies), with the low solids content of the effluent ensuring that a properly designed and built system will have a long service life (~decades).