COMPARISON OF DECENTRALISED AND CENTRALISED WASTEWATER SERVICING APPROACHES

摘要

The evaluation of the relative benefits, costs and risks between centralised and decentralised wastewater servicing strategies can be challenging for water utilities. This paper presents one cost-effective approach that has been tested by the authors on behalf of Yarra Valley Water through a case study for Park Orchards in Victoria. The project involved development, testing and life-cycle cost analysis of alternative long-term wastewater servicing strategies to conventional reticulated sewerage that involved the retention, upgrade and, in some cases, replacement of existing on-site systems. The case study identified that implementation of a series of practicable upgrades to existing on-site systems had the potential to achieve significant improvement in health and ecosystem protection. This has significant implications for the Victoria Sewerage Backlog Program, given the rising costs to deliver reticulated sewerage to these areas.