DATE 28 July 2016 REFERENCE No.

1653686-007-M-Rev3

TO Mr Matthew Berry
Planning Unit, Glenelg Shire Council
CC Garrett Hall

FROM Kathryn Williams EMAIL KWilliams@golder.com.au

RE: PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL – DRAFT GOOLAGAR STOCK HOLDING FACILITY WASTE
WATER TREATMENT CONCEPT

Dear Matthew,

Waste water treatment is required to manage potential odour impacts from the stockyard area, and to
effectively process nutrients from effluent which may otherwise contaminate land, surface water and
groundwater. The information below is provisional, and provided to Council in advance of the waste water
treatment design being assessed and finalised for inclusion within the Works Approval Application (WAA) for
the Goolagar Stock Holding Facility proposal.

1.0 TREATMENT TRAIN

In order to manage the waste water on site from the Stockyard at Goolagar Stock Holding Facility (including
animal urine, wash down fluids and contact rainwater), an on-site treatment strategy in the form on an
interception tank and reed bed is to be implemented. The proposed treatment train is as follows (see also
Figure 1):
1) Runoff from the concrete portion of the stockyard will flow to a sump on the south west edge of the yard.
2) From the sump this discharge will flow into an interception tank with two compartments such that
settlement will occur in the first compartment where large solids will settle to the bottom and clarified
effluent will overflow into the second compartment. The settled solids will be periodically removed from
the first compartment.
3) The clarified effluent will then flow into a reed bed where a series of natural treatment processes will
occur at the root zone level of the reed bed.
4) After the effluent has resided for up to 7 days in the reed bed it may be used to irrigate the surrounding
paddocks.

Golder Associates Pty Ltd

Tel: Fax: www.golder.com

Golder Associates: Operations in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America
A.B.N. 64 006 107 857
Golder, Golder Associates and the GA globe design are trademarks of Golder Associates Corporation.
Mr Matthew Berry 1653686-007-M-Rev3
Planning Unit, Glenelg Shire Council 28 July 2016

Figure 1: Proposed Treatment Train (not to scale)

Please note that the elements in the figure above are not to scale and finalised concept dimensions
proposed will be included within the WAA.

2.0 INTERCEPTION TANK

The interception tank or pond is designed to have a residence time of 48 hours for the wastewater generated
during the maximum proposed consignment of 14,000 head of cattle on site. The interception tank will have
two compartments separated by an internal bund that will further impede large particles from entering the
reed bed. It may be possible to design a form of covering system for this element however that is subject to
further detailed design.

3.0 REED BED

A reed bed is essentially a lined basin filled with gravel and planted with reeds and rushes. The preliminary
concept design estimates an appropriate size to be around 30m wide by 70m long and 0.75 m deep. It is
intended that wastewater would be detained in the reed bed for a minimum of 7 days. Baffles consisting of
small bunds, strategically located within the reed bed will be required to direct the inflow to all areas of the
ponds and prevent direct through-flow between the inlet and the outlet.

Treated water from the reed bed will overflow into a network of perforated pipes which would potentially
extend to surrounding paddocks and provide irrigation water. The pipe network would likely comprise
perforated irrigation pipes dug shallowly into the surrounding paddock or paddocks and then covered with a
layer of soil and turf sufficient to prevent pipe crushing.

4.0 TREATMENT PROCESS

Treatment wetlands have been used successfully for animal wastewater treatment including dairy manure,
runoff from concentrated cattle feedlots and swine manure.1 Additionally, Lismore City Council (NSW) has
promoted reed bed use for the treatment of sewage and wastewater in a domestic setting over other sewage

1
Kadlec and Wallace, 2009, Treatment Wetlands, 2nd Ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA

2/3
Mr Matthew Berry 1653686-007-M-Rev3
Planning Unit, Glenelg Shire Council 28 July 2016

management systems2. Reed beds facilitate a variety of biological processes that are either anaerobic (no
oxygen) or aerobic (with oxygen introduced by the roots of reeds) enabling microorganisms to break down
the contaminants into nutrients that can be absorbed by plant matter. As these processes are time
dependent, it is considered that wastewater is to remain in the wetland for a minimum period of 7 days.
Contaminants such as ammonia and phosphate are known to accumulate in wetlands over time resulting in
a reduction in the treatment capacity. However, considering the periodic nature of the operation, the site will
not be actively producing a wastewater stream for around half of the year. Because operations would not be
full time across Goolagar, the wetlands would likely have sufficient time to recharge their treatment capacity
between stock consignments.

5.0 CLOSURE
Should Davis Advisory or Goolagar have any questions, or need any clarification in relation to this concept,
please do not hesitate to contact either Garrett Hall or Kathryn Williams.

Kind regards
GOLDER ASSOCIATES PTY LTD

Kathryn Williams Garrett Hall

Senior Environmental Scientist Senior Environmental Scientist

j:\env\2016\1653686 - davis advisory goolagar stockyard approvals\correspondence out\007-m\1653686-007-m-rev3-water treatment.docx

2
Lismore City Council, 2015, The Use of Reed Beds for the Treatment of Sewage & Wastewater from Domestic Households, Lismore City Council, NSW, Australia

3/3