A Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector for the development, delivery, operations, maintenance and financing of services enabling public infrastructure. They offer opportunities to improve services and achieve better value for money in the development, maintenance and operation of service-based infrastructure.

Our PPP is established between Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) and Squadron Energy (SQE) to build a new Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWTP).

This complex arrangement is a collaboration between SQE and Council including the teams from Economic Development, Governance and Legal, Strategy Water Supply and Sewerage, Infrastructure and Executives which was approximately 10-months of consultation before it was endorsed by Council.

An advanced water treatment plant takes water (usually from sewage, stormwater, or other sources) and treats it so it can be safely reused or returned to the environment as recycled water.

The new Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant will use the water generated from our current Dubbo Sewer Treatment Plant and treat it to an acceptable standard where it can be supplied as recycled water.

The AWTP and filling station are costed at $7M, of which Squadron Energy will fund $3.6M towards the total.

The filling station will cost an additional $330,000.

The operation of the facility will be absorbed within the current operating structure.

The Treatment Plant will also have solar panels producing energy for the plant, reducing operating costs substantially, in line with Council’s Net Zero Framework Policy. The 127kW solar system is designed so that every watt generated by the system will be consumed by the facility, with a longer-term vision offsetting the energy needs of the Sewerage Treatment Plant in the future also considered in line with the Net Zero Framework Policy.

The partnership means Council will supply Squadron Energy with recycled water for the purposes of concrete batching and dust suppression during the construction period for their wind farms which are being built in the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.

The water delivered to the Dubbo Sewerage Treatment Plant is typical urban wastewater. This plant has been designed to produce effluent wastewater to meet Enviromental Protection Authority (EPA) requirements.

This partnership with Squadron Energy will focus on building a new treatment plant that takes effluent produced by the existing plant from the storage ponds and further treating to a higher recycled water quality allowing it to be used by more areas of the community.

To ensure high water quality, the University of Newcastle is conducting independent research and preparing a detailed report on the AWTP. This report focuses on:

1. Evaluating the effectiveness of treatment processes in removing key contaminants
2. Analysing the characteristics of incoming water
3. Assessing risks related to how the water will be used
4. Design a monitoring program to evaluate the plant's performance.

Currently, the community of Dubbo has access to water drawn from the Macquarie River and the Macquarie Upper Alluvial Groundwater Source (aquifer). The construction of the Dubbo Advance Wastewater Treatment Plant will provide the community with a third source of water that can be used for specific purposes, including construction activities, and the potential for green space irrigation.