Major construction has begun on SA Water’s water network upgrade in Monarto, which is part of its $3.9 million investment to improve water supply and enable continued growth across the Murraylands.
During the next 12 months, more than 7,000m of new water main will be laid along Monarto Road and within areas of Monarto Safari Park to increase the capacity of the region’s water supply network.
The project also includes an upgrade to SA Water’s pump station in White Hill to support the increased flow of water, along with construction of a new chlorine booster station – which helps maintain chlorine levels within the network, to protect the safety of drinking water.
SA Water’s Senior Manager of Capital Delivery, Peter Seltsikas, said augmenting the network ensures that it can help support business and residential growth, while maintaining service levels for existing customers.
“As our regions develop and grow, it’s our role to invest in evolving our infrastructure’s capacity to keep them in step with the changing demands from businesses and households,” Mr Seltsikas said.
“Getting more safe, clean drinking water to the region is supporting Monarto Safari Park’s expansion, as it looks to open a new precinct – Wild Africa – which will feature on-site accommodation, and will also benefit existing local primary producers such as poultry farms and a mushroom farm as they increase their operations.
“We have worked closely with the Monarto Safari Park in recent years to understand their water use and build more capacity into our network to accommodate higher water flows as their exciting developments come to life.
Mr Seltsikas said an important part of preparation for this project has been managing the unique challenge of working within the vicinity of Monarto Safari Park’s animals, given sections of the new pipes will pass through the park.
“There are four existing water mains through the area – carrying drinking water from our Murray Bridge plant – that will be duplicated by laying an additional four pipes to get more water into Monarto and beyond, with each pipe 250mm in diameter.
“To minimise any disruption to the animals, our friends at Monarto Safari Park moved their Southern White Rhino, Ibutho, to a new yard during construction, while our crews are also scheduling work between visitor tour times to ensure people can still enjoy the park.
“At the height of construction, we expect to have around 20 people working on-site to help deliver this work, which will also benefit surrounding towns such as Rocky Gully and Pallamana for years to come.”
Built in 1999, SA Water’s Murray Bridge Water Treatment Plant sources and treats water from the River Murray, before it supplies drinking water to customers across the Murraylands.
Featured image: Workers at the network expansion site. Image credit: SA Water.
