Thus, Veolia Water hasbeen chosen by the Queensland Government to accompany it on one of the biggest recycled water infrastructure projects in the southern hemisphere. In parallel, the Queensland Government and the Gold Coast City municipality have awarded Veolia Water, in partnershipwith the John Holland Group, the realization of a major desalination plant.

Both projects forma crucial part of the South East Queensland Regional Water Supply Strategy for effective management of the region's water resources.

For the Western Corridor Recycled Water (WCRW) scheme, Veolia Water will initially provide advice to the Queensland Government for development of all installations and infrastructure, and will then become the operating partner, in an agreement where the terms will soon be defined. This programme, which is a major drought relief initiative of the State Government, will enable water from treatment plants around Brisbane to be recycled and used by industry.

The project, scheduled for completion in 2008, represents a total investment of 1 billion Euros for the State of Queensland. It consists of two stages, the first one involving the recycling of wastewater from the sites of Oxley, Wacol, Goodoa and Bundamba, and the second stage involving the recycling of wastewater from Luggage Point and Gibson Island.

The volume of water treated by microfiltration or ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and UV, will be more than 200,000m3 per day.

The second contract is for the design, construction and operation of a vital desalination plant for the treatment of seawater using reverse osmosis technology to produce an average of 125,000m3/day of potable water for a population of up to 450,000 residents of the Gold Coast and the South Eastern Region of Queensland. Veolia Water will bring its know-how in process design and commissioning, as well as in the operations and maintenance of the plant for a term of 10 years, with a potential 5 year extension period.

The plant will be in operation late 2008, and full production capacity is scheduled for early 2009. The contract is expected to bring a consolidated turnover of approximately 210 million Euros over a period of 10 years for Veolia Water. All design and construction will be carried out to protect the environment and interests of the community in this highly developed and popular tourist area.

The plant will be located at Tugun, adjacent to the Gold Coast Airport, at the Southern end of the Gold Coast.

by VEOLIA