CEC Constructions is part of the Cleaner Seas Alliance: regional Queensland's largest wastewater treatment project. When complete, the project will provide the third largest treatment capacity of its kind in the world. The $188 million project is being delivered as an Alliance between Cairns Water, Cairns City Council and an expert team involving United Group Limited Infrastructure, CEC Constructions, GHD and Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM).

CEC Constructions is responsible for an estimated 35% of the construction work, including all civil works such as in-ground services, earthworks, pavements, concrete structures, structural steelwork, buildings, demolition and refurbishment.

As an Alliance partner, CEC Constructions will also be contributing to the overall project management/delivery including the design and estimating phase and mechanical, electrical and control construction activities in conjunction with our civil construction activities and the commissioning phase of the project.

The project involves significant upgrades at four major wastewater treatment plants in Cairns over the next few years. The Northern, Southern, Edmonton and Marlin Coast wastewater treatment plants will all be upgraded to increase capacity and to include Biological Nutrient Removal processes. The upgraded wastewater treatment plans will incorporate state-of-the-art submerged membrane filtration (SMF) technology designed to deliver both increased capacity and improve waste water quality. The Environmental Protection Agency has supported the proposed upgrades which will ensure compliance with new EPA licensing conditions that come into effect in November 2009.

According to Cairns Water, treated effluent will be 1000 times cleaner, contain five times less nitrogen and 10 times less phosphorus than current discharge, significantly easing impacts on waterways and helping to ensure the resilience and conservation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The high quality recycled water will provide non-drinking re-use options such as industrial cooling applications, concrete production and dust suppression, irrigation on golf courses, parks and sporting grounds, and agriculture.

New facilities include Bioreactors, SMF Structures, Clarifiers, Pre-Treatment Areas, UV Disinfection and other minor structures and buildings. Upgrades will increase the design flow capacity to 2020 and beyond.

Upgrade works at the Marlin Coast plant will connect Class A+ recycled water to the Smithfield Village development for re-use in households for toilet flushing and outdoor use. Separate future CRC projects will deliver recycled water from the Northern plant to the Cairns Airport Domestic Terminal for toilet and irrigation use and to the Botanic Gardens for greening.

The project is due for completion in November 2009.