The Anderson Road grey water treatment plant, a project of the Water Supplies Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has won the ICE 2021 Chris Binnie Award for Sustainable Water Management. The project was commended for its sustainability, innovation and applicability to new dense, high-rise developments in the face of decreasing land and water resources, with emphasis on the added benefits to society.
As the engineering consultant for this grey water treatment project, Binnies has been involved in supplying civil engineering services ranging from planning, design, tendering through to construction supervision.
The Anderson Road grey water treatment plant is Hong Kong’s first district-wide grey water recycling plant. It has a design capacity of 3,300m3/day for treating the water collected from showers, wash basins, sinks and laundry machines for use in toilet flushing and other non-potable purposes. As a key initiative to build water supply resilience, this centralised water recycling system will supply treated grey water to a 40-hactor former quarry site that is being redeveloped into a new town for a population of 30,000.
The project is a smart and sustainable recycling system that will help to save fresh water for other potable purposes, reduce sewage discharge, and promote localised water reuse and thus minimise water conveyance energy and cost.
Various innovations and technologies were adopted for the project, including membrane bioreactor technology, which provides substantially clarified and high-quality effluent for multiple reclaimed water uses. The raw grey water from the Anderson Road quarry site will be collected through a dual sewage collection network, which is the first of its kind on a district scale in Hong Kong.
Sustainability was at the heart of many of the design decisions for this grey water recycling system. The low-lying location of the plant was carefully selected to utilise gravity in grey water collection and reduce the long-term energy demand. The project employs the use of a digital-twin solution for smart monitoring to optimise existing control systems and maximise asset and energy performance, thereby leading to reductions in the plant’s carbon footprint.
Furthermore, Binnies is also involved in the development of the first reverse osmosis desalination plant in Hong Kong, another critical water supply infrastructure to provide the city with an alternative strategic water resource. The company will continue to explore and deliver “reliable and sustainable” infrastructure solutions to the city’s most complex challenges and elevate the quality of life for the community.
