Free CWMS Wastewater Treatment Plant optimisation review for councils

This work will be facilitated by the University of South Australia’s Sustainable Infrastructure and Resource Management (SIRM) team.

Successful councils will receive:

• a review of performance of their Wastewater Treatment Plant
• advice on the monitoring and understanding of the performance of their plant
• recommendations for improving their plant.

How to get involved

Councils wishing to register must email cwms@lga.sa.gov.au by Wednesday 24 September 2025, advising their interest and include:

• the Wastewater Treatment Plant they’d like reviewed
• a contact name for consideration.

All applications will be considered by the CWMS Management Committee before selected sites are confirmed and communicated to councils by mid-October 2025.

What is needed from councils

Successful councils chosen to be part of the review will be required to provide information and data about their Wastewater Treatment Plant.

This will enable a sampling program for individual plants, including:

• a description of the wastewater treatment process, including a flow/schematic diagram, and supporting information such as plant design capacity and treated effluent water quality requirements (e.g. for disposal or reuse)
• any historical plant water quality and operational data, if available (e.g. BOD₅, E. coli, chlorine, suspended solids, plant flows, mixed liquor suspended solids, sludge settleability, dissolved oxygen, etc.)
• preparedness to share the results and benefits with the local government CWMS sector.

To assist with sampling, councils will be required to:

• collect grab samples at key points along the treatment process.
• commit to regular sample collection – potentially weekly for 4-6 weeks – to be completed by December 2025.

Sample bottles and eskys will be provided. Council personnel will be asked to collect the samples and arrange shipment to a commercial NATA-accredited laboratory (still to be determined).

Find out more

For questions about the free optimisation review for council CWMS Wastewater Treatment Plants, please contact LGA’s CWMS Program Manager, David Eggers.