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Tours of Sydney Water facilities
Tour the Penrith Wastewater Treatment Plant
Where is the plant?
The Penrith Wastewater Treatment Plant is on Castlereagh Road, Penrith.
What will we see there?
The plant treats wastewater to a high tertiary standard . It serves about 100,000 people.
The plant was built in the 1940s and expanded to include advanced biological treatment processes in the 1980s. It uses many different processes including screening, settling and biological nutrient removal.
The plant also uses Intermittently Decanted Aerated Lagoons (IDALs) , where wastewater goes through several stages of treatment in the one tank.
The plant also turns waste materials into biosolids for use in agriculture.
What happens on the tour?
The tour takes about two hours and includes a multimedia presentation and site tour.
The group will be met by the tour leader and escorted through the plant and briefed about the treatment processes.
Health and safety
Everyone on tour must follow our instructions. These include:
- wearing sturdy covered shoes (no thongs or sandals)
- switching off mobile phones
- not touching equipment
- washing hands after the tour
- not smoking, eating or drinking during the visit.
You may need to wear safety hats and communication systems (Sydney Water supplies this equipment).
All plants contain stairs and you must be able to climb them.
In an emergency, you may have to go up about 300 steps from the underground area of the plant.
More about the Penrith Wastewater Treatment Plant (PDF - 278KB)
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