Splendour in the Grass flushed with success thanks to Kele project
Published on 26 August, 2010
This year's Splendour in the Grass event (July 30-Aug 01) was literally flushed with success thanks to a wastewater project installed and tested by CQUniversity students and graduates, in conjunction with the Woodford Folk Festival held last summer....
PhD student Ben Kele enjoys his acces all areas pass to Splendour in the Grass
Project leader and sewerage system contractor Ben Kele, completing his PhD with CQUniversity, said Splendour had relocated to Woodfordia (north of Brisbane) to enable a permanent venue to be established at Byron Bay.
Mr Kele said the treatment plant performed very well and there were no problems with the wastewater treatment or the potable water treatment.
"We had 40,000 people on site, which produced approximately 1.2 million litres of wastewater per day. We treated over 4 million litres during the course of the festival," he said.
"There were some media reports about water problems but they were with portable systems in nearby fields which run out of water because the tanker truck to refill them was caught in the traffic jam.
"Our treatment crew had AAA (Access All Area) passes, including to backstage and the performers' greenroom; which meant that my nephews were able to get autographs and photos with Florence from Florence and the Machine, Bernard Fanning from Powderfinger, and Marcus, the lead singer from Mumford and Sons."
Mr Kele and his student helpers spent months preparing the $1.2 million 11-stage multi-barrier sewerage system, which was launched at Woodfordia by Deputy Premier Paul Lucas in December 2009.
The Kele team also helped install 800m of new sewerage pipes and a new $80,000 treatment system to remove tannin colour from the drinking water.
