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The Annual Water Educator's

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							WATERMATTERS
VICTORIAN WATER INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION NEWS                                                                Volume 8 Issue 2 Autumn 2007




                                                         Water educator’s Forum
INSIDE	                                         Page

Water Educator’s Forum                      Cover



                                                         T
From the CEO’s Desk                                  2          he Annual Water Educator’s        groups about the benefits of fire on
                                                                Forum was held on 22 and 23       the environment.
Upcoming VicWater Events                             2          of February this year in Halls    Museum Victoria and Scienceworks
DHS Auditor Approval Process                         3   Gap, and kindly hosted by Grampians      Museum staff also attended and
                                                         Wimmera Mallee Water. Careful            presented at the forum, clearly
Fixed Leaks Save Wannon Water                        3   planning by the Victorian Water          illustrating the similarities in water
                                                         Educators Task Group resulted in a       education roles of the businesses and
Going Under Cover to Save Water                      4
                                                         successful event. Even the educators     the museums. The forum also provided
WaterAid Australia AGM                               4   were educated, as the event was held     excellent networking and idea-sharing
                                                         at the Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural       opportunities for all attendees.
Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project                      5
                                                         Centre and staff there spoke of their
                                                                                                  Participants were taken on a guided
Design of Water supply Training on Offer 5               education program.
                                                                                                  tour of the Bellfield Reservoir in Halls
Training and OH&S Matters                            6   The two day event was well               Gap and the Stawell water supply
                                                         attended by the network and included     historical flume main and tunnel by
Qenos Leading the Way                                6   updates from several of the water        GWMWater staff.

Welcome Leanne                                       6   businesses. An interesting and           Water education in our schools and
                                                         graphic presentation by Parks Victoria   communities is a top priority in the cur-
Task Group Topics                                    7   on the recent bush fires in the region   rent climate and VicWater continues
                                                         was a highlight for many attendees.      its commitment to support the Water
Water Quality Issue                                  8
                                                         Parks Victoria is using the event to     Educators Network and Victorian Water
Sewerage and Trade Waste Services                        educate the community and tourist        Educators Task Group.
for Coode Island                                     8




                  Suite 1, Level 6

          2 Collins Street, Melbourne,

                   Victoria 3000

                T: (03) 9639 8868

                F: (03) 9639 8860

          E: vicwater@vicwater.org.au

              www.vicwater.org.au
                                                                                                                                              Participants at the Annual Water Educator’s Forum at Hall’s Gap




   If you’d like to have an article considered for

   inclusion in Water Matters, email the finished

          article to vicwater@vicwater.org.au

     Due dates: 15 January, 15 April, 15 July

      and 15 October or call T: (03) 9639 8868




                                                                                                  WATER MATTERS AUTUMN 2007                                                                                     
             ‘‘  from      ‘‘
steve bird
               the CEO’s
                desk
                                                           like to thank them for the contributions    the submission of the 2008-2013 Water
                                                           that they have made. Additional             Plans. There is a huge level of
                                                           information will be included in future      activity associated with the
                                                           editions of Water Matters but we            development of those plans so the
                                                           certainly wish them all the best for        extension of time will be very useful.



             W
                                                           their next ventures.                        Water businesses have done a
                        elcome to the autumn edition of
                                                                                                       wonderful job of teaching customers
                        Water Matters. The recent rain     VicWater has been working closely
                                                                                                       how to use less water and that reduced
                        across the State was very          with the Essential Services Commission
                                                                                                       usage, combined with the
             welcoming and hopefully the start of          (ESC) and water businesses
                                                                                                       unpredictable seasonal arrangements
             better things to come; especially in the      regarding the issue of New Customer
                                                                                                       will make the forecasts extremely
             farming and catchment areas of the State.     Contribution’s and we are now
                                                                                                       difficult, and interesting.
                                                           working through the detail of some
             Over recent weeks we have seen four
                                                           revised arrangements. Although the          Finally, a quick reminder about the
             MD’s/CEO’s announce that they are
                                                           final position is not what some were        VicWater conference to be held in
             moving on to other endeavours. Dennis
                                                           after, the compromise by all has been       September. This year’s theme is
             Cavagna (South East Water), Dennis
                                                           very positive and the cooperation by        ‘Planning for a Changing Future’ and
             Brockenshire (Barwon Water), Peter
                                                           the ESC and the businesses has been         we recently distributed the ‘Call for
             McManamon (GWMWater) and Rod
                                                           very much appreciated.                      Papers’. Further information is
             Ralph (First Mildura Irrigation Trust) will
             all be finishing in the coming months         I am sure that all businesses have          available on the Association’s website:
             and, on behalf of the industry, I would       welcomed the extension of time for          www.vicwater.org.au




             upComing VicWater eVents

             3rd annual ‘Water & SuStainability’ training CourSe
             The 3rd Annual Water & Sustainability Training Course – “decision-making strategies and tools for the Victorian water
             industry” will take place on Wednesday 25 & Thursday 26 July 2007 at the Pacific International Conference Rooms,
             471 Little Bourke Street Melbourne.

             This is a two day course that provides water industry professionals with practical tools and strategies for addressing key
             sustainability challenges and ensuring informed decision-making. Developed by VicWater and RMIT’s Centre for Design, the
             course provides: sustainability principles and concepts; the regulatory framework; case studies; tools and strategies; practical
             workshops; and focused discussion.

             The Course is relevant to managers, team leaders, engineers, business strategists, environmental officers, procurement officers,
             customer service staff, project officers and new staff.

             At the end of the two days, participants will have a clear understanding of:

             S	 Sustainability theory and practice in the water industry.
             S	 Sustainability planning and developing vision and goals for sustainability within your organisation.
             S	 The regulatory and policy frameworks that govern sustainability in the water industry.
             S	 An overview of the different sustainability challenges facing metropolitan, regional urban & rural water industry sectors.
              		
             S	 Sustainability Tools for improved decision making – how and when to use them? Tools include: The Natural Step,
                   Multi-criteria Assessment (MCA), Ecological Footprint, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), sustainability reporting, greenhouse
                   and sustainable energy evaluation; and community consultation.

             S	 The sustainability industry networks and support services that are available to practitioners and the wider water industry.
             For more information, please contact Kylie Brown from Centre for Design at RMIT
             on (03) 9925-3484 or kylie.brown@rmit.edu.au .




 2           WAT E R M AT T E R S AU T U M N 2 0 07
dHs auditor approval proCeSS


R
        ABQSA International has             education                                     	
                                                                                        S	 anagement Systems Auditing:
                                                                                          M
        launched their drinking water       All applicants are required to hold             RABQSA-AU.
        quality management system           a degree or diploma recognised in
(QMS) auditor certification scheme.         Australia, in the fields of engineering,
                                                                                          	
                                                                                        S	 rinking Water Services Auditing:
                                                                                          D
                                                                                            RABQSA-DW.
RABQSA International has developed          science or medicine.
this scheme in collaboration with DHS,                                                    	
                                                                                        S	 ersonal attributes
                                                                                          P
VicWater and WSAA. The scheme will          Work experience
                                                                                            (PAAS Master exam).
                                            All applicants are required to provide
be used by DHS to approve auditors in
accordance with the Safe Drinking
                                            details of at least seven years full time     	
                                                                                        S	 kill Examination.
                                                                                          S
                                            work experience in at least two of the
Water Act 2003, but is national and
                                            three following areas.                      RABQSA International can provide
will have applicability for audits in
                                                                                        information on training providers who
other jurisdictions.                          	
                                            S	 xperience in the water industry,
                                              E
                                                                                        offer training in Management Systems
                                                either employed directly in the
Detailed information on the scheme                                                      Auditing. The PAAS Master exam
                                                water industry or being a consultant
can be found at the following address                                                   can be undertaken online through the
                                                to the water industry (as an
                                                                                        RABQSA website.
on the RABQSA web site                          engineering, laboratory or
(http://www.rabqsa.com/cb_wsa.html).            environmental consultant).              The Drinking Water Services
                                                                                        Auditing competency module is being
Certification under this scheme will be       	
                                            S	 xperience in establishing,
                                              E
                                                                                        delivered by RMIT short course centre
a mandatory requirement for auditors            reviewing or running systems for
                                                                                        in Melbourne. The module consists
seeking approval from DHS to conduct a          quality management, environmental
                                                                                        of sitting a 2.5-hour exam based on
regulatory audit. Victorian water               management, risk management or
                                                                                        Chapters 2 and 3 of the Australian
businesses should alert potential               HACCP.
                                                                                        Drinking Water Guidelines, which can
auditors to the existence of
                                              	
                                            S	 xperience in undertaking audits of
                                              E                                         be taken into the exam.
this scheme.                                    systems for quality management,
                                                environmental management, risk          If further information on the scheme is
To gain DHS approval as auditor,                                                        required, please contact RABQSA direct,
                                                management or HACCP.
individuals will be required to                                                         on (02) 4728 4600, or via email to
demonstrate that they currently meet        They will then be required to               info@rabqsa.com.
the following education and work            complete the four components to
experience requirements.                    achieve auditor certification:




Fixed leaks saVe Wannon Water
thouSandS oF litreS


T
       wenty five high water                litres a day, the equivalent of             Customers can test for leaks themselves
       consumption customers in             almost 10 households.                       by doing the overnight leak test and
       Hamilton were visited to assist in   Twenty five customers were visited and,     following the 3-step check:
water saving actions and leak detection.    with their permission, checked their
During these visits 16 undetected leaks     meter when no water was being used.         1. Turn off all appliances before going
were found, with over 31,000 litres of      On 16 occasions the meter was still            to bed at night and take a reading of
water going to waste each day.              moving, indicating a leak. The                 the dial of your water meter;

Wannon Water continues to work              customers’ properties were then
                                                                                        2. The next morning before any water
with their customers to assist them in      investigated and a range of leaks from
                                                                                           is used, read the meter dial again
understanding their water usage and         leaking toilets and running taps to
                                                                                           and compare the two readings;
help them to save water around the          leaking pipes in walls were found.
home as part of ongoing drought             The customers have been very                3. If the meter readings are not the
management activities. During these         proactive in responding to any leaks           same then your property may have a
visits 16 undetected leaks were found,      found and have worked to get their             leak that should be investigated by a
one of which was wasting 4,800              leaks fixed as soon as possible.               licensed plumber.



                                                                                           WATER MATTERS AUTUMN 2007               3
    GoinG under coVer to Save Water


    L
           ittle did East Gippsland Water         Covering storage basins also reduced                   storages”, he said. “It’s no surprise
           and scientists expect the dramatic     evaporation by an amazing 90%. In                      that the water industry and water
           benefits that would come from          the case of Mallacoota’s storage,                      authorities have been sitting up and
    installing simple shade cloth covers          evaporation fell from 10 megalitres                    taking notice of this project, given the
    over open air water storage basins – in       (or ten Olympic size swimming pools)                   far reaching benefits offered.
    protecting water quality and combating        a year to just one megalitre (one                      “The significant decrease in
    evaporation.                                  Olympic size pool). In total across all                evaporation alone has helped us
    In Autumn 2004, following                     covered storage basins, evaporation                    during the current drought in delaying
    encouraging initial results at Bemm           was drastically cut from 29 megalitres                 the introduction of water restrictions at
    River where the town’s open air water         to just 2.9.                                           Omeo for example.”
    storage was covered, the Authority            East Gippsland Water’s Chief Executive                 The cloth used is 97% light proof and
    participated in a $1 million research         Officer Les Mathieson says the test                    intended to prevent, or at least
    project to comprehensively test the           results have been very impressive.                     minimise, the growth of algae, weed
    effectiveness of shade cloth covers. It                                                              or vegetation by hampering
                                                  “This could revolutionise the way water
    was effectively the first experiment of its                                                          photosynthesis. It also pretty much
                                                  authorities go about protecting water                  eliminates water contamination from
    kind in the world, with partial funding
                                                  in storage basins from bacterial and air               bird droppings and other wind
    coming from the Federal Government.
                                                  borne contamination, how they                          borne material.
    Working with the CSIRO, shade cloth           minimise algal growth and reduce
                                                                                                         Needless to say, East Gippsland Water
    specialists Gale Pacific and SuperSpan        losses through evaporation”, he said.
                                                                                                         has every intention of continuing with
    (who designed and constructed the
                                                  “What we have here is an economic                      the use of shade cloth covers well into
    shade cloth structures), covers were
                                                  solution for urban and regional water                  the future.
    erected over open air storage basins
    at Omeo, Mallacoota, Swifts Creek and
    Cann River. Two storage basins were
    left uncovered, at Sarsfield and Orbost,
    to act as a control for the test and all
    sites were monitored closely through to
    Spring 2006 to check for evaporation, as
    well as for algal, bacterial and air borne
    contamination.

    The results were dramatic, with the
    study showing that shade cloth covers
    drastically reduce the incidence of                            This shade cloth cover over the Mallacoota storage basin is 110 metres long and 90 metres wide.
                                                                                                                                      Photo courtesy of SuperSpan
    algal blooms.




    Wateraid auStralia aGM

                                                                        A
                                                                                t the WaterAid Australia Annual General Meeting, held
                                                                                on the 18 April 2007, WaterAid took the opportunity to
                                                                                thank their supporters in particular those organisations
                                                                        that played a significant role in fundraising activities over the
                                                                        past year. VicWater was jointly awarded the ‘Best Fundraising
                                                                        Organisation’ with Yarra Valley, South East and Melbourne
                                                                        Water for their work in organising the 2006 Victorian WaterAid
                                                                        Ball. The 2006 Ball raised approximately $204k for WaterAid
                                                                        projects to improve water and sanitation conditions in some of
                                                                        the poorest communities in the world.




                                                                       Nathan Smith receiving Vic Water’s Award from Tony Kelly (Chair of WaterAid Australia) and
                                                                       Barbara Frost (CEO of WaterAid UK)


4   WAT E R M AT T E R S AU T U M N 2 0 07
WiMMera Mallee pipeline projeCt


I
   mplementation of the Wimmera
   Mallee Pipeline is on schedule
   with landowner liaison procedures
in place, coordinated pipe deliveries
to site, pipe-laying rates achieving
targets, and rehabilitation of the pipe
route generating good feedback from
landowners.

Construction of the Lake Bellfield to
Taylors Lake main transfer trunkline is
utilising 711mm and 1016mm diameter
steel pipe at various locations along
the route. The PVC trunk and
distribution network supplying
Longerenong, Dimboola, Jeparit,
and Rainbow
communities and
farms is progressing
with multiple work
crews. These
sections will be                                                 construction to commence by June and the system
operational in                                                   commissioned in 2007. This is the final area to be supplied
October 2007.                                                    from the Murray River. Planning for the ‘rest of the system’ is
                                                                 well advanced, in response to the record low storage capacity
The tender-
                                                                 in the Grampians of 4.9%. Priority in GWMWater planning for
ing process for
                                                                 2007 is to supply towns and provide water carting points for
Supply System 5
                                                                 farm access.
(Berriwillock and
Culgoa) is well                                                  The original construction plan of ten years has been reviewed
advanced with                                                    – to a targeted completion of five years.




desiGn oF Water supply reticulation systeMs
training on oFFer

E
        ngineers and technical officers   the lectures focusing on planning,           Development Program (TDP). The TDP
        involved in water supply          hydraulic design and approved                has now established itself as an impor-
        reticulation design or related    products; general and structural design;     tant industry initiative, and is designed
activities are encouraged to attend a     and appurtenances and design review.         to improve the technical capability of
training course for the Design of Water   Participants have the option to take a       the Urban Water Industry. It consists of a
Supply Reticulation Systems. The
                                          three-hour examination after the course      rotation program which is now in place;
course is based on the Melbourne
                                          for assessment. Certificates will be         a lecture series which is over half way
Retail Water Agency version of the
                                          awarded for attending and for passing        through its first round; and dedicated
WSAA Water Supply Code of
Australia and is valuable for water       the examination.                             project work.
industry professionals.                   There is a cost of $450.00 to attend         Nominations for the course will be
Developed by City West Water (CWW),       the training, which includes catering        accepted before 1 August 2007. For
the course will be held over three full   and a comprehensive set of course            further information contact Bruce Freer
days on 14, 15 and 16 August 2007         notes. Fifteen places are allotted for the   at City West Water on 03 9313 8579 or
at the Victoria University Sunshine       course, additional courses will be           email bfreer@citywestwater.com.au.
Campus.                                   considered depending on the number
                                          of nominations received.
City West Water Standards and Design
Manager Ross Carruthers will conduct      The course is part of CWW’s Technical



                                                                                         WATER MATTERS AUTUMN 2007                  5
    TRAINING AND OH&S MATTERS
    The Victorian Water Industry OH&S             Special Guest speaker at the informal       Training Package met in Sydney on 26
    Network met at the Westernport                dinner was AFL legend Tom Hafey who         and 27 March to consider a number of
    Water Office on 18 and 19 April 2007.         coached four AFL teams in his career.       project proposals to provide
    With a very full agenda, the Network                                                      underpinning resources for the
    heard presentations from Craig Parker         The Network nominated a number              Training Package.
    of Southern Rural Water on OH&S               of representatives to the new OH&S
    Compliance, Dr Kal Fried, sports              Steering Group which will meet at           Victoria was well-represented at the
    medicine physician to the Melbourne           VicWater on 28 May to develop its           meeting with VicWater, Goulburn-
    Football Club on the comparisons              work plan for next financial year.          Murray Water and the Water Training
    between sport and work-related                                                            Centre in attendance.
    injuries and Andrea McLinden of Allianz       TRAININg
    on injury claim trends in the water           The Industry Advisory Committee             The VicWater Training Consultative
    industry. Wayne Gearon of WorkSafe            which assists Government Skills             Committee will meet at VicWater on
    also presented to the Network on the          Australia with the development and          22 May to determine its work plan for
    latest WorkSafe initiatives.                  implementation of the National Water        2007/2008.



    Qenos leading the Way

    Q
             enos is the cornerstone of          Recently Qenos also completed a joint        continuing to refine the design to
             Australia’s plastics industry and   audit with City West Water and EPA to        ensure maximum amount of treated
             is a major supplier of raw          look for further reductions in water use     water is re-used. They won the 2007
    materials used in thousands of               and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in their    savewater! Award in the industrial
    household, consumer and                      trade waste discharge.                       category for this project.
    industrial products. Their plants in         The main water reduction project for         They have also reduced their Olefins
    Botany, Sydney and Altona, Melbourne         2006 was the recovery of the Resins          TDS discharge volume by 30% due to
    produce olefins and a full range of          effluent stream through the Plastics         major conversions of their plant which
    polyethylene products (HDPE, LDPE            waste water treatment plant for              resulted in less caustic soda (sodium
    and LLDPE). They also supply a diverse       re-use in both the Plastics and Resins       hydroxide) being used as part of the
    range of specialty polymers.                 cooling towers.                              treatment process.
    Qenos Altona is City West Water’s            This project was originally projected to     Qenos is continuing to work with City
    biggest water saver, with their Olefins,     achieve savings of 90 million litres per     West Water to implement innovative
    Plastics and Resins sites together           year, but refinements have resulted in       programs to reduce their reliance on
    reducing their water use by over 1.2         actual savings of up to 150 million litres   potable water and to reduce their TDS
    gigalitres per year since 2002.              per year early in 2007. Qenos is             discharge volume.



    WelcoMe leanne!

    L
         eanne Cini commenced working for VicWater in March as a Project Officer. As
         well as working on a number of specific projects, she will also be involved
         with the Victorian Water Educators Task Group and the Water Efficiency
    Task Group.
    Over the last three and a half years Leanne worked at Coliban Water. For about two
    and a half of those years Leanne was Coliban’s Environmental Officer and for the
    remaining time was a Project Engineer on the ‘Superpipe’ Project and Epsom Spring
    Gully Recycled Water Project. Prior to working at Coliban Water, Leanne worked for
    EPA Victoria in the role of VSAP (Victorian Stormwater Action Program) Coordinator
    in the North West Region.
    Leanne’s background is in the environmental area, with qualifications in
    Environmental Engineering Technology and she is looking forward to continuing her
    involvement with the water industry from yet another perspective.
    Leanne has enjoyed her return to Melbourne after her stint in Bendigo, and has so
    far spent most of her lunch breaks shopping up a storm – shame she can’t actually
    make it rain!


6   WAT E R M AT T E R S AU T U M N 2 0 07
                TASKGROUPTOPICS
Finance issues                              sustainability                              plan for the coming year. With extreme
Steering Committee                          Seminar                                     pressure on many supply systems
(FiSC)                                      The 2007 Sustainability Seminar
                                                                                        across the state, the issue of effectively
                                                                                        managing supply and demand is top
The 2007 Finance Issues Workshop is to      “Opportunities and Realities for the
                                                                                        priority. The plan will focus on
be held on the 31 May & 1 June 2007         water industry” was held on the 15 May
                                                                                        improving knowledge of and access
at the Crest on Barkly, 47 Barkly Street,   2007. The Seminar showcased
                                                                                        to other water efficiency programs;
St Kilda. The key speakers at this year’s   emerging ideas and opportunities that
                                                                                        improving knowledge of water efficiency
event will be the new Auditor General,      have potential to improve the
                                                                                        of alternative water sources; working
Mr Des Pearson and the Chairman of          sustainability of the water industry
                                                                                        towards the industry further clarifying
the ESC, Mr Greg Wilson.                    including; centrally managed
                                                                                        the links between energy use and water
                                            decentralised wastewater systems;
The Workshop provides the water                                                         use; keeping abreast of advances in
                                            emerging water-trading and carbon-
industry with an update on key                                                          irrigation efficiency; and improved data
                                            trading markets; nanotechnology;
financial issues facing the water                                                       analysis methods to measure the
                                            environment & resource efficiency; and
industry and an opportunity to discuss                                                  effectiveness of water efficiency
                                            the latest developments in community
issues and network with key industry                                                    campaigns.
                                            consultation.
stakeholders including the Department
                                                                                        The Water Efficiency Task Group also
of Sustainability and Environment,          A highlight of the Seminar was an
                                                                                        welcomes a new member, Sue Rogers.
Department of Treasury and Finance,         afternoon workshop by keynote speaker
                                                                                        Sue is the Communications Manager at
Victorian Auditor General’s office,         Dr Kevin White from the United States,
                                                                                        Southern Rural Water. Having Sue as a
Treasury Corporation of Victoria and the    who is an internationally recognised
                                                                                        member will ensure that the rural
Essential Services Commission.              expert on ‘centrally managed
                                                                                        perspective is represented within
                                            decentralised wastewater systems’.
                                                                                        the group.
                                            Download presentations (http://vicwater.
sustainability                              org.au/sectionid=538)
taSk group                                                                              daMs Working group
The Sustainability Task Group met on
                                            GreenHouse eMissions
                                                                                        On 17 March the Dams Working
the 22 March 2007. The Group                reduCtion
                                                                                        Group members attended a special
welcomed new members Alison Teese           As part of the Greenhouse Emissions         Seminar sponsored by DSE on Risks to
(Director, Central Highlands Water),        Reduction Framework, Sustainability         Dams posed by the Drought. The
Beatrixe Fisher (City West Water) and       Victoria have commissioned a panel of       speaker on this topic was Dr Gamini
Win Laing (Sustainability Victoria).        external consultants to provide a           Adikari, Principal Engineer Dams,
Ken Thompson (Yarra Valley Water) and       1-week ‘Greenhouse and Energy               SMEC Australia.
Ken Baxter (Melbourne Water) provided       Review’ of each water business. The         With Victoria’s prolonged drought
two very high quality presentations         aim of the review is to identify the most   conditions, most dams are empty or are
sharing their respective water              appropriate actions for the business        operating well below normal levels. This
business’ approach to reducing              to reduce greenhouse emissions and          situation is unprecedented. Of particular
greenhouse gas emissions and                utilise renewable energy, which forms       concern are the potential effects of the
practical business applications. The        the basis of their five-year ‘Greenhouse    dry conditions on earthen and rock fill
presentations covered: opportunities        Action Plans’.                              embankments. The Seminar addressed
and limitations for greenhouse                                                          the risks posed to Victorian dams by the
emissions reduction; practical                                                          extended drought, as well as the type
                                            Water eFFiciency
applications for reducing emissions;                                                    of measures dam owners can adopt to
                                            taSk group
costs involved in such applications; and                                                reduce them. Other aspects covered
what’s in store for future greenhouse       The key agenda item at the recent Water     included monitoring and surveillance
reduction efforts. Download                 Efficiency Task Group meeting was to        as well as emergency planning and
presentations (http://www.vicwater.org.     discuss the progress of the                 response for potential dam
au/?sectionid=538 )                         current business plan and to update the     threatening situations.



                                                                                          WATER MATTERS AUTUMN 2007                  7
           Water Quality issues at
           lake glenmaggie and maCaliSter river

          A
                  s the Gippsland community            Boisdale, Coongulla and Glenmaggie               processes, Gippsland Water has
                  recovers from the devastat-          remains suitable for drinking.                   since introduced Stage Four Water
                  ing bushfires which caused           “At this stage, test results show that the       Restrictions for all customers in the
          havoc across the region over sum-            raw water quality is stabilising, and is         five towns affected.
          mer, Gippsland Water is continuing           becoming more manageable. However,               Mr Mitchell said an issue like this has
          to monitor raw water supplies at Lake        further rainfall events may cause                not occurred on this scale before in the
          Glenmaggie and the Macalister River in       ongoing issues over future months,”              region and Gippsland Water is currently
          the north-east of its service area.          Mr Mitchell said.                                uncertain of its severity, or how long it
          Recent heavy rainfall has caused             Gippsland Water has increased the                will persist.
          significant amounts of dirt and ash to       treatment capacity at the Maffra                 “If noticeable colour, taste, or odour
          wash down into the river and                 water treatment plant to assist treating         increases occur in the treated water
          dam water.                                   the raw water from the Macalister                supplies, Gippsland Water will
          Gippsland Water’s Chief Executive            River. Drinking water has also been              immediately issue a boil water alert
          Officer John Mitchell said that although     transported into Coongulla for                   for to these towns. However, current
          the raw water quality continues to be        customers supplied by this system.               trends indicate the likelihood of a boil
          of concern, treated water supplies to        To assist the systems to cope with this          water event is reducing, although
          the local towns of Maffra, Stratford,        increased demand on treatment                    future rainfall events may change
                                                                                                        this situation.”
                                                                                                        Gippsland Water will continue routine
                                                                                                        monitoring of the raw water quality to
                                                                                                        assist, manage and plan for any
                                                                                                        activities that may be required to
                                                                                                        maintain supply to customers. Stage
                                                                                                        Four Water Restrictions will also remain
                                                                                                        in force for those customers until
                                                                                                        further notice.
                                                                                                        Those who have concerns about the
                                                                                                        quality of their water, or would like
                                                                                                        more information about water
                                                                                                        restrictions, can contact the Gippsland
                                                                                                        Water Service Centre on 1800 066 401
                                                                                                        or visit the Gippsland Water website at
                                                                                                        www.gippswater.com.au.
    Macalister River



          seWeraGe and trade Waste serVices
          For Coode iSland

           T
                 he Coode Island industrial area       agreed that sewerage and trade waste             The project was completed on schedule
                 is a major port facility for the      services were needed.                            and within budget by City West Water
                 receival and distribution of bulk     The site is underlain by ‘Coode Island           contractors, Australian Project and
           chemicals and shipping containers.          Silt’ which is thixotropic and is a very         Design Delivery and CDP Networks Pty
                                                       difficult construction environment. This,        Ltd, using directional drilling. The
           In August 1991, a fire at one of the
           bulk chemical facilities prompted           combined with a high water table, very           use of directional drilling saved
           concerns that contaminated runoff from      heavy traffic and the sensitive nature of        considerable time and cost over
           the island may potentially threaten the     the materials handled on the site, gave          conventional trenching methods in this
           Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers and            this project a high degree of complexity.        difficult situation.
           ultimately Port Phillip Bay. In addition,   The works, undertaken by City West               City West Water completed the
           the Island was also a “backlog” sewer       Water, involved a 2.5 kilometre                  pressure sewer system during 2006 as a
           area with discharges from the facility      pressure sewer network and included              cooperative arrangement involving the
           needing to be trucked away or treated       a bored siphon crossing under the                Department of Innovation, Industry and
           independently on-site.                      Maribyrnong River to reach the North             Regional Development and the Port of
           As a result of these concerns, it was       Yarra Sewer Main.                                Melbourne Corporation.


                                                                      This publication was printed on Australian made Tudor 100% recycled fibre.
8     WAT E R M AT T E R S AU T U M N 2 0 07                                                  Inks used are vegetable based, and mineral oil free.

						
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