Australia’s largest gold producer, Newcrest, has introduced a high efficiency and low-maintenance waste water treatment system at its flagship Cadia mine to purify human and other waste water and enable it to be recycled on-site.

The FAST® (Fixed Activated Sludge Treatment) was completely supplied and installed by CST Wastewater Solutions at the Cadia site in NSW where the NSW Government has approved $A 2 billion plans that will extend the lifespan of Cadia Valley operations for at least 20 years.

The treatment system, representing the latest generation of Smith & Loveless FAST technology, is part of Cadia’s ongoing programme to maximize community benefits flowing from a project that will include Australia’s largest underground mine and the world’s fourth largest gold mine.

This is a proven environmental initiative by Cadia that demonstrates its concern to optimize conservation of water as a resource shared with the broader community. Cadia is taking a lead as mining companies throughout Australia face the same challenge of optimizing water resources as they expand their operations and job opportunities to the benefit of surrounding communities.

The FAST system is applicable to many unsewered situations including mine and resource developments – where it has been proven for 20 years – as well as construction sites, wineries, hotels and resorts, schools, shopping centres, caravan parks, sports and leisure centres, and boat marinas.

The easily transportable FAST system, which can be built into shipping containers, is designed to handle 40-120 cubic metres a day of sewage and other effluent from the mine. It will produce an effluent quality of:

BOD < 20 mg/l
SS < 30 mg/l
Faecal Coliforms < 1000 cfv/100 ml to meet NWQMS guidelines for secondary effluent plus pathogen reduction.

The plant replaced an earlier different system that was not achieving optimum performance.

A big plus of Smith and Loveless FAST systems is that they are very robust and reliable in service, having been supplied to the resources industry for more than 30 years. They are simple to operate and require no daily operator maintenance, so annual maintenance costs are low.

Treated effluent waste water from the resource plants can be mixed with mine and runoff water and sprayed on the mine’s coal haul roads for dust suppression, for example.

FAST system features and benefits include:

  • Modular design and construction.
  • Low sludge production.
  • No moving parts, except for an air blower that provides oxygen while circulating the liquid.
  • Require little maintenance, with no daily operator requirements and very little annual plant maintenance.
  • Are robust, in terms of the process. The fixed media through which the wastewater circulates provides a high surface area to volume ratio, protecting against hydraulic shock loads.