THE New Year will herald new growth for Bowen as construction on the new $23 million Bowen Sewage Treatment Plant is set to begin in early January 2019.

The Bowen Water Recycling project is part of Whitsunday Regional Council's Greening and Growing Bowen initiative to "improve amenity and tourism potential in Bowen, support economic growth and reduce effluent discharge volumes to the ocean”.

Mayor Andrew Willcox said the significant upgrade will nearly double the existing plant's capacity, allowing for future population growth and investment in the region.

"The Bowen community will also benefit as the new plant will be able to treat a greater volume of quality recycled water,” he said.

"This will then supply the Bowen Recycled Water Network, allowing us to irrigate urban parks and sports grounds spaces with recycled water.

"The volume of treated effluent released into Port Denison will also be greatly decreased, which will help improve water quality in Edgecumbe Bay and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

"The new plant will be constructed offline so the existing plant remains in operation throughout the works.

"The new plant is scheduled to be commissioned late 2019 and will work in tandem with the existing onsite infrastructure.”

The Bowen Water Recycling project is part-funded by the Australian Government's Building Better Regions Fund which targets infrastructure development in regional areas.

Whitsunday Regional Council advised residents are advised that they may experience an increase in construction noise and vehicle

movements in the Peter Wyche and Elphinstone Road areas during the construction.

The works are scheduled to take place on a rotating '10 days on, four days off' roster beginning from January 3, 2019.