Wastewater treatment at a plant in Hobart’s northern suburbs has been restored after an influx of ‘sugary water’ from the nearby Cadbury chocolate factory killed off essential bacteria.
The incident at the Cameron Bay facility last week significantly impacted its performance, according to TasWater’s Brendan Windmeyer.
“Unfortunately, due to the high strength of the waste the bacteria at the plant were wiped out, effectively taking the plant offline,” he said.
“We ceased accepting trade waste from Mondelez and our team worked around the clock late last week and through the weekend to get the plant back up and running.”
Mondelez is accused of pumping high-strength trade waste above allowable limits from its factory to the Cameron Bay plant.
Late on Sunday, TasWater advised that the plant on the River Derwent is now operating normally and treating wastewater again.
“We are confident there is no longer a public health risk to downstream users of the river,” Windmeyer said.
Water testing along the river has confirmed that beaches in the area are once again safe for swimming.
Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch has lifted the no-swim advisory for the Derwent, aside from one localised issue at the western end of Bellerive Beach.
“We remain in ongoing and collaborative discussions with Mondelez on its waste treatment solutions,” Windmeyer said.
“Until we can be confident in its ability to discharge compliant waste, we will continue not to accept trade waste from the Claremont site.”
