Decentralised sewage treatment is not common in Papua New Guinea (PNG) yet according to the United Nations sustainability development goals (SDG's) sanitation and clean drinking water are two of the core fundamentals for society. Whether your site is a community village, an educational institute, regional hospital or mining camp, it needs to adequately sewage to maintain a healthy virus free community.
Logistically however, remote decentralised sewage systems are one of the hardest projects to undertake because they involve sizable infrastructure. With Hydroflux you do have choices and the skills are here in-country, so in this article we review the options to achieve sanitation in remote areas through the appropriate selection of decentralised sewage solutions.
Prefabricated tanks are generally the best option because they can be constructed off site, tested, and sent to site ready to install in a "plug and play" format. An important sustainable benefit of the Hydroflux Epco decentralised STP is that we construct the tanks in Port Moresby or Lae increasing local economic value through our in-country partnerships.
There are two decentralised STP options available through Hydroflux Epco and both have their merits if applied appropriately. Selecting the appropriate solution is centered around the life span of your site. In simple terms, ask yourself; Does the site have a medium-term lifespan of less than 10 to 15 years duration or is the project for a community style site to last 25 years or more?
The first option for medium to short term sites is a fully containerised system. Fully containerised systems are often more economical because they are built offshore in high volume production lines and are built using sheet metal stainless steel inside standard shipping containers. Yes, they are purpose built from the ground up but they are a one size fits all standardised solution with little ability for customisation. The containerised solution by Mena Water, is an excellent example of a quality German owned design made in the United Arab Emirates from quality European components. Quality containerised systems are appropriate where CAPEX budget is a limiting factor or for a maximum effective site life of between 10 to 15 years.
The second, and most appropriate option for PNG is fabricated here in country. The Hydroflux Epco RoadTrain® STP is purpose built from the ground up and is designed for longevity, thus having significant circular economic value. The RoadTrains are readily refurbished and are capable of accepting future process improvements. As of 2021, the Tabubil RoadTrain STP is 39 years old and being successfully refurbished and upgraded for inlet screening of in-organics and sludge handling prior to effluent discharge. Both modern technologies were not available in 1981 when the site was first built.
There are two installation variants available in the RoadTrain series depending on your site's logistical disposition. The first variant is a fully welded tank configuration for transporting as a standalone low and wide load for sites with little if any logistical issues. The second is a bolted panel configuration for flat pack delivery and assembly on site where road access and or cranage is limited or problematic. You can watch an animated assembly of the Hydroflux Epco bolted RoadTrain in this edition of PNG Business News and on the Hydroflux Epco website. Just look for our advertisement or follow the link to our website at the end of this article.
Recently, Hydroflux Epco and their in-country representative's, constructed each of the decentralised options mentioned in this article.
Enga province in the western highlands is the site of one of our most recent containerised installations. The Wabag decentralised solution was built over the Summer of 2020/21. The site was accessible, a stock standard solution fitted the brief and a Mena Water containerised solution was selected.
The Kundiawa STP in Chimbu province is a bolted panel design because the access road down to the site is very narrow and steep, virtually impossible for wide load access. In this case the bolted RoadTrain assembly as seen in the animation on our website was the most appropriate choice.
In contrast, the fully welded version of the RoadTrain Original was used for Lihir, Kiunga and Wangbin townships because of ready access via road and coastal sea freight. The RoadTrains for the Western Province towns were fabricated in Port Moresby for ready access to the Fly River via coastal shipping and the Lihir project would have been produced in Lae for shipping east to New Ireland Province except for unfortunate Covid related delays in Morobe Province at the time.
Hydroflux Epco are the regional leaders of this type of design with over 60 years’ experience in PNG across some 40 plus locations from the Western Highlands to the Eastern most islands of Bougainville and New Ireland. The Hydroflux Epco product range is trademarked as the RoadTrain® STP and Hydroflux Epco are proud to say our RoadTrain STP's provide the highest level of economic value for PNG because they can be produced locally.
When it comes to robustness and longevity, the RoadTrain STP is the best choice for project life spans greater than 25 years and when your site logistics are problematic, for any reason, the Hydroflux Epco bolted RoadTrain is the design of choice. So, if you are considering sewage treatment for your next project, think about logistics first, and let Hydroflux Epco take care of producing a treatment outcome that protects your community into the future, whatever distance that horizon is.
