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Building water resilience for Tasmania

Supporting TasWater with an innovative solution to future-proof Tasmania’s water supply
Bryn Estyn Water Treatment Plant Upgrade, Australia
Water

In the face of growing environmental challenges, ensuring access to clean, safe water is more crucial than ever. Water bodies like the Derwent River in Tasmania, Australia, play a vital role in supporting both the ecosystem and the communities that rely on them. However, unique water quality issues can pose significant threats, necessitating innovative solutions to protect these precious resources.

To address the specific water quality challenge in the Derwent River, a collaborative effort was launched involving Jacobs, TasWater (Tasmania's water and sewage utility) and the TasWater Capital Delivery Office, which includes contractors CPB and UGL. This partnership focused on upgrading an existing water treatment plant in Hobart to create an engineering solution tailored to the unique conditions of the river—an approach not commonly seen in Australian water treatment plants. 

Bryn Estyn Water Treatment Plant Upgrade, Australia
Image courtesy of TasWater

TasWater needed to upgrade the Bryn Estyn Water Treatment Plant to meet future water demands and address quality issues from the Derwent River. They turned to Jacobs with our local expertise and global experience treating similar water sources to provide detailed design and construction phase support for the project. The result was a multi-barrier treatment process able to manage a wide range of water quality conditions specific to the source water, validated early in design through extensive treatability testing. The project has shown immediate improvements in water quality for the region since it was completed in late 2023.

The Bryn Estyn Water Treatment Plant upgrade is a significant project completed under TasWater’s largest ever infrastructure initiative, valued at USD $164.1 million (AUD $243.9 million). The project augmented the existing plant to meet the increasing demand for drinking water as Hobart's population grows. The upgrade includes advanced water treatment processes such as ozonation and biological activated carbon (BAC) filtration to provide more than 42 million gallons (160 million liters) per day of safe, high-quality drinking water. 

Industry recognition

  • Winner: Infrastructure Partnerships Australia 2024 National Infrastructure Awards -Government Partnerships Excellence Award
  • Winner: Best project over $150M at the 2024 Civil Contractors Federation Earth Awards in Tasmania

 

  • Jacobs' process design team showcased their deep understanding of water treatment engineering and regulatory landscapes. They were instrumental in ensuring that the new plant met the health-based targets outlined in the latest edition of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. This included achieving pathogen removal targets based on the category of source water, which was a critical requirement for TasWater. One of the key innovations in the treatment train introduced by Jacobs was the optimization of the filtration process. Leveraging global experience with similar water quality, Jacobs demonstrated that a single stage of filtration, combined with biological activated carbon (BAC) treatment, could meet the required turbidity limits and pathogen removal targets.
    Tim Cubit
    TasWater Head of Major Projects

 

Did you know?

42million gallons/day (160ml/day) of drinking water provided by the upgraded plant
$164.1million USD ($243.9 million AU) Total investment for the largest capital works project in TasWater’s history
60%Bryn Estyn supplies 60% of Greater Hobart’s drinking water
50yearsThe upgrade future-proofs Hobart's water supply for the next half-century