We’re leading progress towards a circular economy at our Northern Water Plant in Geelong. The Green Oxygen for Wastewater Treatment project is a partnership between Barwon Water and Viva Energy Australia to explore how oxygen enriched air can improve wastewater treatment at the Northern Water Plant in Geelong.

Viva Energy is delivering Australia’s most ambitious hydrogen mobility project which will offer hydrogen refuelling at the Viva Energy Hub in Geelong. Barwon Water is leveraging our partnership and proximity to use the oxygen byproduct from the hydrogen production for efficient wastewater management in North Geelong.

This circular process involves treating water at the Northern Water Plant, after which the recycled water is used by Viva Energy to produce renewable hydrogen. The oxygen produced when generating hydrogen is captured and used by Barwon Water to enhance the treatment of wastewater which ultimately ends up as recycled water: and the cycle continues.

Image of the wastewater treatment, hydrogen/oxygen production project cycle.

We expect by using oxygen enriched air for aeration, instead of air, we can reduce energy consumption by around 50%.

About the project

We continually explore innovative ways to efficiently treat and manage wastewater as our population grows. Using oxygen to enrich the aeration process can rapidly speed up the aerobic biological treatment and result in lower energy needs. Water utilities predominately use air because it is costly to use oxygen. With Viva Energy’s new renewable hydrogen via electrolysis project nearby, this offers a new opportunity for us to access oxygen at a viable cost.

Water is a molecule made from two types of atoms - hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). Viva Energy will use renewable electricity to split recycled water into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) gases - a process known as electrolysis. Viva Energy will capture the hydrogen for refuelling heavy vehicles at their Viva Energy Hub while we will capture the oxygen byproduct to use it for efficient and effective aeration in wastewater treatment.

There are typically three steps to wastewater treatment:

  • Step 1: Pre-treatment and screening
  • Step 2: Biological treatment
  • Step 3: Filtration and disinfection

We currently use regular air in step 2, which is approximately 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen.

Using oxygen enriched air in step 2 allows us to achieve the required dissolved oxygen levels in the wastewater in a more efficient way. There is also a possibility that by increasing the dissolved oxygen above traditional treatment levels, we can promote better aerobic biological treatment. This will reduce the amount of waste solids produced and decrease emissions generated by the plant.

Image of the electrolysis process from recycled water, through an electrolyser, then separate molecules go to different places - hydrogen to VIVA Energy and Oxygen to Barwon Water

Project funding

This Green Oxygen for Wastewater Treatment project will receive $3 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) Advancing Renewables Program.

Project location

The oxygen project will be situated at our Northern Water Reclamation Plant, next door to the hydrogen project and electrolyser located and operated on Viva Energy’s land.
Image of the service region of Geelong with an enlarged overview of the satellite image of the region.

Related projects

Explore our other innovative circular economy projects in the region

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The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.