Controlled release of recycled water from Romsey plant
17 July 2026
Greater Western Water (GWW) will start a controlled release of recycled water from the Romsey Recycled Water Plant which is nearing capacity, into nearby Deep Creek, from Monday 20 July.
GWW has notified EPA Victoria about the need for the controlled release, which will be carefully managed, monitored and aligned to creek flows to minimise environmental impacts.
The recycled water released will be highly treated, with double disinfection providing an added level of treatment and pathogen reduction to support compliance with Class B recycled water requirements.
GWW Acting General Manager Service Delivery, Nathan Bennett said a combination of factors had contributed to the need for a controlled release.
"While we've taken action to avoid a release through a number of operational measures, it is now necessary to ensure the plant can continue to provide an essential service to the community," he said.
"The plant is experiencing significant storage pressure due to periods of high rainfall, reduced irrigation opportunities, lower evaporation and continued inflows into the system."
Inflows to the plant have been approximately 50 per cent above average since May.
Opportunities to reuse the recycled water on GWW land, which typically helps to reduce overall storage volume, have been limited by wet ground conditions. In addition, there's been reduced demand from local irrigation customers and a shorter irrigation season.
GWW is increasing storage capacity at the plant, with construction set to begin next year. Three new lagoons will provide approximately 292ML of additional treatment and storage capacity, increasing total site capacity to close to 760ML.
"A significant amount of planning, investigations, approvals, design and procurement activities have gone into this plant upgrade over the past few years," Mr Bennett said.
"The upgrade builds on more than $8m of investment at the plant since 2023 to improve irrigation infrastructure, storages, monitoring and treatment improvements."
The Romsey plant treats wastewater from Romsey and Lancefield, producing recycled water that is reused on GWW land and supplied to local irrigation customers.
The controlled release will only continue for as long as required to maintain safe and reliable plant operations while storage volume returns to normal operating levels.
