Changes within wastewater treatment system standards

In February 2017 a new Australian Standard was published AS1546.3:2017 which will replace the existing Standard AS1546.3:2008. This will mean all secondary treatment systems sold in Australia will be required to be tested and must meet or surpass the new standard, before being to be able to be sold in the Australian market. Testing of systems will be carried out in Queensland and South Australia; these facilities will be strictly monitored, with limited and supervised access to manufacture representatives at all times. Systems must be submitted for testing for a minimum period of 34 weeks after commissioning phase, systems ranging from a minimum 1200L/d to a maximum of 5000 L/d are required to be tested, if a system fails the first test period, they must be submitted again to the min 34 weeks, before approval.

At present there are approximately 34 manufactures of Secondary treatment systems within the Australian market, to date only about 6 manufactures have indicated there intent to submit for testing. Any ATWS or STS not submitted for testing for the new standard by the end of 2020 will not be allowed to be sold within the Australian market, until testing is carried out and passed. A number of manufactures have already indicated that they will not be testing to the new standard, which will mean they will not be around in the near future.

So when you are considering a system brand or type, ask your supplier if the system you are enquiring about, is going to be tested to the new standard, as you may find many current manufactures may disappear after 2020, as they know their system will not meet the new AS1546.3:2017 standards. To submit a system for testing comes at a large cost to the manufacture approximately $100k per system tested, so manufactures need to be confident that their system will meet or surpass the testing requirements. You don’t want to find yourself with a system, installed with no manufacturer support, if and when something goes wrong.

Fuji Clean Australia were the first manufacturer in Australia to submit and install their modified CE1500 system for testing at the facility in South East Queensland in November 2017, with early testing showing positive results, according to the Global Certification Pty Ltd newsletter. As a major supplier and installation agent for Fuji Clean Australia, Civcon Water Services are excited and confident by the news that Fuji Clean is the first system to be subjected for testing in Australia. With the vast technical support Fuji Clean Japan has at their disposal; we have confidence in the ability for the Fuji system to pass the required testing. Fuji Clean Australia have indicated that if and when their system, passes the new standard, that system will be introduced to the Australian market immediately, even if this is before the required 2020 dateline.