Stories

When it comes to designing wastewater treatment plants, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. To help improve wastewater treatment plant design, KBR recently partnered with RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia) on a groundbreaking research project.  

The challenge: every location’s wastewater solid residue (sludge) has a slightly different consistency, changing the size of pipes and pumps required for different facilities. As a result, engineers frequently have to rely on assumptions when completing their designs, leading to inefficiencies and systems that may not perform as expected.

To help ensure designers had access to the most accurate data possible, the RMIT research team set up a full-sized field lab onsite at Melbourne Water’s Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) to test the wastewater sludge flow in real-time. The findings resulted in the development of a design toolkit which can be used to enhance wastewater treatment plant design; ultimately improving energy efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

Innovation through cross-sector partnerships  

This project highlights the power of collaboration between academia and industry to deliver practical, forward-thinking solutions for the water sector. RMIT and KBR led the initiative in partnership with Melbourne Water, Monash University, the University of Melbourne, and CSIRO – with all contributing expertise to turn research into real-world engineering outcomes.

The insights generated by RMIT were instrumental in helping Melbourne Water and our team design a full-scale upgrade of the ETP digestion and auxiliary systems. Using the data collected, we developed an optimised solution with smaller, more efficient equipment – improving performance and reducing costs. The toolkit and methods created through this work are now available to other utilities, offering broader benefits across the industry.

The project’s success was recognised with the 2025 IChemE Australasia Award for Research Project Excellence – a testament to the strength of the partnership and the impact of the research.

Data-led design  

KBR’s involvement as industry partner was critical to ensuring the research remained targeted and focused on industry needs. By actively participating in the research design and delivery, KBR helped shape the project to meet immediate operational needs, increasing confidence in the outcomes and facilitating their adoption.

But the benefits go both ways. Thanks to this partnership, KBR’s engineers now have access to invaluable, real-world data that can be used to confirm designs, calibrate models and design more efficient systems that drastically reduce operating costs for our customers. Overall, the partnership is enabling our teams to create better designs, with more risk mitigation – backed by data provided by some of the world’s leading universities.  

What KBR does in water

Our water team works closely with water utilities to address critical challenges across the full water cycle. Our broad capabilities enable us to support customers at a holistic level and offer end-to-end solutions, including early phase strategy, technical, engineering, asset management, and market-leading program and portfolio management solutions.

Whether it is major pipelines and large pumping stations or advanced water, wastewater and water recycling treatment plants – our people know the ins-and-outs of water cycle management. But we know that it goes beyond the design of a single asset – it’s about the bigger picture. That means providing our customers with smart, sustainable, and resilient solutions that drive a positive, lasting impact on communities.

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