Installation and testing will soon begin on a new water treatment plant for Wayatinah in Tasmania, following completion of the plants’ construction at a specialist manufacturing facility in Launceston.
TasWater contractor TRILITY, with partner company Hydramet, established the facility in 2017 to manufacture seven water treatment plants in one central location for regional towns across the state.
The plant for Wayatinah is the first to be completed with construction continuing on the remaining plants bound for Cornwall, Herrick, Mathinna, Gladstone, Rossarden and Bronte Park where public health alerts remain in place.
Another plant will be built on-site in Conara by TRILITY to supply the local residents as well as Epping Forest, via a new pipeline under construction.
Manufacturing the plants in one location provides quality assurance and allows for a more efficient, safe and manageable work environment, and employs more than 30 Tasmanian workers.
TasWater CEO, Mike Brewster, said the Wayatinah plant is the first of many new water treatment plants to be commissioned and delivered across the state in the coming months.
“TasWater made a commitment to address water quality issues in regional town supplies by the end of August this year and we intend to do that. We have successfully removed 13 public health alerts since we began our 24 Glasses campaign in 2016,” Mr Brewster said.
“We are on track to add Wayatinah and the other regional towns to the list, but there is still plenty of work to do.”
The Wayatinah plant will be transported by truck to the site in early February 2018 where it will then be installed and tested.
The source water will undergo membrane ultrafiltration to remove potential microbial pathogens and sediment. This process is followed by carbon filtration to improve aesthetic quality, for safe reliable drinking water, with improved taste and odour.
Once the plant begins operation, it will produce up to 50 kilolitres of water every day for local TasWater customers. Construction is also underway on a new treated water storage reservoir in the Central Highlands town.
The multimillion dollar TasWater project to improve water supplies in regional towns also includes the construction of four new treatment plants by contractor Stornoway in a factory in Glenorchy. These plants are set to improve the water supply systems for Maydena, Rocky Creek, Fentonbury, Westerway and National Park.
Water main pipelines to connect adjacent regional towns to water treatment plants are being constructed by Zinfra to supply Epping Forest, Judbury and Colebrook.
Also part of the program is the continuing upgrades to the regional town reticulation systems by TasWater’s contractors The Baker Group and Water Industry Solutions.
The on-site works in the regional towns are being undertaken primarily by local civil contractors.
“This is a real statewide collaboration to bring clean drinkable water to regional towns in Tasmania. Not only does it bring together the skills and expertise of outstanding companies, but it provides jobs for Tasmanians, better health outcomes and strengthens the economies of these towns in the long term,” Mr Brewster said.
Once the system is operating in Wayatinah, an extensive program of testing will be undertaken to ensure the drinking water is safe and meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
The boil water alert will be lifted by the Department of Health and Human Services after this testing is complete.
“We are looking forward to celebrating, in the coming months, with the 72 Wayatinah customers when they can turn on the tap and enjoy safe, treated drinking water delivered to their homes.”
