Post by SA Water

If you’ve ever protected a sourdough starter like a prized family heirloom, you’ll appreciate the tenacity of our team in Port Pirie. As part of a major upgrade to the Port Pirie Wastewater Treatment Plant, we had to do something operators almost never want to do: temporarily remove an entire ecosystem of treatment microbes that work around the clock to clean sewage. Fortunately, before work began, our team carefully preserved part of the plant’s original microbial “mother culture”, in a process much like saving a scoop of sourdough starter before a kitchen renovation. Now these microscopic worker bugs are being reintroduced to reseed the upgraded bioreactors – the tanks in which they live – to restart the biological treatment process that safely treats around 4.5 million litres of wastewater every day. The upgrade also includes new aeration technology designed to improve the plant’s performance in Port Pirie’s naturally more saline wastewater conditions, helping to strengthen the long-term reliability and performance of the facility. It’s a great example of how our teams bring engineering, science and biology together to deliver essential services for #SouthAustralia.