50 Years - 50 Stories: Carlton United Brewery - Samoa Wastewater Treatment Plant - A First for Samoa!

When Aquatec Maxcon built the Samoa Brewery Waste Water Treatment Plant in 2005, it was the first waste water treatment plant ever constructed in the Pacific Island nation.

Aquatec Maxcon was contracted by Carlton & United Breweries (who owned Samoa Brewery at the time) to find a suitable solution for their trade waste. As a design and construct project, Aquatec Maxcon selected UASB technology from Paques followed by tertiary treatment using Aquatec Maxcon's own AquaStar surface aerator. One particular challenge of the project was treating high pH trade waste from the brewery’s glass bottle washing plant, requiring an acid dosing system to be installed in order to neutralise the effluent. The majority of the tanks and equipment for the plant were fabricated in Ipswich, Australia, then shipped to Samoa. Installation was carried out by local labour under close supervision from the Aquatec Maxcon team.

The Samoa Brewery WWTP maintained the pristine environment of Apia, Samoa as well as providing robust and suitable operation when no similar infrastructure existed in Samoa at the time.

The project was also Lawrence Cheung’s first major project as a Project Manager, where he was mentored by Geoff Parker and Erik van Driel. Lawrence has now been with Aquatec Maxcon for over 17 years, another example of how Aquatec Maxcon values, invests in and continually develops its people.

Below: Project summary of the Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) Samoa Wastewater Treatment Plant.