In mid-May, Hong Kong’s government opened T-Park—the world’s largest sewage treatment plant.  The plant has the capacity to treat waste from the city’s 7.2 million residents.^[1]  This facility heralds a significant transition in “Hong Kong’s waste-to-energy journey.”^[2]  The “T”, after all, stands for transformation.

The complex uses a variety of advanced technologies, including desalination and power generation, to treat up to 2,000 tonnes of waste per day—and to decrease the volume of sludge by 90 percent.  T-Park’s treatment substantially reduces the loading on landfills (where sludge was previously disposed); and generates heat that is recovered for purposes of on-site electricity as well as off-site electricity that is exported to the public power grid (to supply energy for up to 4,000 households). The facility also has a “zero-wastewater-discharge policy,” in which “wastewater is treated and reused for irrigation, flushing, and cleaning purposes.”  The facility’s desalination plant treats water from Shenzhen Bay to provide potable water for on-site use, while collected rainwater is reserved for non-potable use.  T-Park also aims to attract the public with a variety of amenities, including an array of educational and ecological facilities, a wetland habitat for wildlife, an eclectic, landscaped garden, and an additional rooftop garden.

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have entered an agreement to conduct a joint study for the development of desalination plants for the UAE.^[4]  This week, at an economic cooperative meeting, the finance ministers of South Korea and the UAE signed a “joint development agreement” to research “energy-saving desalination plants” and to install pilot models of these plants. ^[5]  According to the agreement, South Korean and UAE governments, public agencies, and private “water-related” companies will continue to discuss further collaboration in the water sector, including desalination policies.^[6]

^{Credit: National Centre of Excellence in Desalination, Australia [7]}

From its AU$230 million budget, the Water Corporation may soon invest in Western Australia’s desalination plants in order to expand their current capacities.^[8]  However, the company will first invest in developing the use of recycled wastewater for drinking; and Water Minister Mia Davies has said that a third desalination plant will not be a feasible option within the next 10 years.  Currently, Western Australia has two desalination plants that provide 410, 700 cubic metres of water per day—a staggering 40 percent of the water supply of the metropolitan area.