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Sanitation and the City (c.1957)

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Werribee Sewage Farm

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This clip features the Werribee Sewage Farm (now known as Melbourne Water’s Western Treatment Plant) west of Melbourne, which treats the city’s water by land and grass filtration. Open channels guide the sewage across the farm’s acreage and link to smaller channels which allow the water to flood the field and be filtered. Animated segments show how seepage runs into the effluent drain and the network of drains that channel the treated effluent out into Port Phillip Bay. A water sample from the outlet drain is compared with samples of tap water and sewage.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

At the time of the film, Werribee’s 26,000-acre treatment plant was processing over 90 per cent of Melbourne’s sewage. Today, the Western Treatment Plant treats just above 50 per cent.

The animated sequences in this clip were made by Harrie and Will Owen of Owen Brothers Animated Films.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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