Our Bendigo Solids Handling Project has reached another major milestone with the $82.6 million contract for the upgrade at the Bendigo Water Reclamation Plant awarded to LC Envico – a joint venture between Laurie Curran Water and CCB Envico.

We held a small event on Friday 9 May to celebrate this once-in-a-generation upgrade, one of the biggest infrastructure projects to be undertaken in Bendigo in recent years.

Speaking about the project, our Managing Director Damian Wells said the state-of-the-art plant will ultimately benefit up to 200,000 people by 2050.

“We don’t consciously think about it but every time we flush our toilet, use the sink, or wash something down the drain, our plant in Epsom is where it ends up,” Mr Wells said.

“This wastewater facility has been serving our community for more than 100 years – and it’s nearing the end of its asset life. The original plant was constructed in 1923, before a new one was established in the early 1990s.”

The upgrade see a new solids handling facility constructed to replace the existing part of the treatment process that takes the solid sludge from the wastewater and turns it into biosolids that are able to be used in farming.

It will ensure this critical community asset can provide an essential service to our growing city for the next 25 years.

“Acting now helps us address the challenges of our changing and drying climate, aging infrastructure and our increasing population,” Mr Wells said.

New solids handling infrastructure will include an upgrade to the electrical infrastructure at the site ahead of the construction of new aerobic digestors with thickening, dewatering and outloading systems.

The electrical upgrade will also support the installation of a major solar facility at a later date.

“With Bendigo's expected growth in the coming decades, this solids handling facility will process the increased volumes of sewage coming from the community, turning it into high quality biosolids that can be used sustainably as fertiliser by local farmers," Mr Wells said.

The coming months will see our project team focus on planning and detailed design, with construction to begin late in 2025.

Once construction is underway, work will take approximately four years to complete.