A new wastewater treatment plant is now operating in Darwin’s Shoal Bay waste facility to treat more than 50 megalitres per year of toxic chemicals found in wastewater.

The $13.2 million facility will capture human-made toxic chemicals commonly used in household products, also containing PFAS, heavy metals and ammonia. PFAS does not dissolve naturally in the environment making it harmful to both humans and animals.

Designed to eliminate up to 99 per cent of contaminants from leachate – the liquid generated in landfill when water passes through waste – using Australian-first evaporative technology, the facility will also be taking wastewater from the Palmerston and Litchfield council areas.

“The City of Darwin is leading the country with this technology, all the while making excellent progress towards addressing legacy environmental issues at Shoal Bay,” Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis said.

The facility enables treated leachate to be used to irrigate crops of surrounding vetiver grass, while the captured PFAS is destroyed.

“By integrating the system with a wetland buffer to treat ammonia and finally vetiver grass to remove any trace contaminants, it means no pollutants enter the environment,” Water and Carbon Group chief executive Jim Hunter said.

Water and Carbon Group designed and will now operate the wastewater treatment plant, after first being awarded the $13.9 million contract in 2019.

Darwin is the first city to tackle PFAS contamination in landfill leachate, and the new technology has proved contaminated water from landfill sites can be treated, Mr Hunter said, saying that the facility will be fully operational by the end of this year.

The project is considered a major milestone in meeting the needs of the Darwin environment and the waste management centre, the council said.

At least 190,000 tonnes of waste is processed by the Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility annually. In the last year’s annual budget, some $32.7 million of Darwin’s ratepayers’ money went into waste management.