Council to deliver major wastewater infrastructure

Residents to the north and west of Toowoomba will soon be seeing some earth works as Toowoomba Regional Council embarks on five major wastewater infrastructure projects.

To be delivered by December 2012, the Toowoomba Wastewater Infrastructure Projects (TWIP) program consists of:

• Highfields sewage pumping station and transfer main to Wetalla Water Reclamation Facility (WRF)
• Glenvale sewage pumping station and transfer main
• Westbrook sewage pumping station and transfer main to the Kooringa Valley pumping station
• Mt Kynoch Water Treatment Plant sludge thickener, andWestern Trunk Sewerage Scheme incorporating sewage pump stations at Oakey, Kingsthorpe, Gowrie Junction and Kooringa Valley, with transfer mains from Oakey via Kingsthorpe, Gowrie Junction and Kooringa Valley to Wetalla WRF.

Council has awarded the $52 million construction contract to a joint venture partnership of Monadelphous Engineering Pty Ltd and Transfield Services (Australia) Pty Ltd (MTS JV).

Water Services portfolio leader Cr Paul Antonio said property owners directly affected by the works will be notified by the contractor and would be kept informed of their progress.

"The works will involve significant construction activity with traffic management measures in place for safety," he said.

"They will centralise council's wastewater treatment and lead to more efficiencies in the system."

Cr Antonio said local government amalgamations in 2008 had led to a review and planned rationalisation of the region's sewerage systems, providing an opportunity to upgrade and improve services to cater for development and better environmental outcomes.

To cater for projected growth in Highfields, council identified the need to close the wastewater treatment plant at Browne Road, Highfields and to divert sewage to the Wetalla WRF.

Likewise, a new sewage transfer scheme was required to transfer sewage from the developing suburb of Glenvale, Toowoomba to the trunk sewer network that conveys sewage to Wetalla WRF.

To cater for growth in Westbrook, a new sewage pump station will be constructed at Westbrook with a transfer main to the Kooringa Valley sewage pump station which will then pump the sewage to Wetalla WRF for treatment.  The temporary wastewater treatment plant at Westbrook, currently operating at capacity, would then be decommissioned.

Construction of a sludge thickener and associated works at Mt Kynoch Water Treatment Plant (WTP) will improve the treatment process and operating efficiency.

"Damage to the old Oakey wastewater treatment plant caused by flooding last summer led to a council decision to convey sewage from Oakey to the Wetalla WRF for treatment.

"This was found to be a far more cost-effective alternative to constructing a new wastewater treatment plant to replace the under-performing Oakey plant," Cr Antonio said. 

The Western Trunk Sewerage Scheme will include a new sewage pump station at Oakey with intermediate sewage pump stations at Kingsthorpe, Gowrie Junction and Kooringa Valley. 

This scheme will ultimately transfer sewage from existing, approved and proposed developments in Oakey, the Cotswold Hills area (Kooringa Valley, Cotswold Cascades developments), Torrington, Glenvale, Charlton employment area and the proposed Kingsthorpe/Gowrie Junction sewerage schemes to the Wetalla WRF.

Cr Antonio said contractors MTS JV had established an office in Toowoomba and construction site works would begin late this year. Weather permitting, the projects should be completed by:
     

• Highfields sewage transfer scheme                     June 2012
• Glenvale sewage transfer scheme                       June 2012
• Mt Kynoch WTP sludge thickener                         June 2012
• Westbrook sewage transfer scheme                    September 2012
• Western Trunk Sewerage Scheme                        September 2012

MTS JV will keep local residents and stakeholders informed of progress by letterbox drops, personal contact and project signage. Enquiries regarding construction should be directed to MTS JV telephone number which is displayed on their project signage.

"While council regrets any inconvenience caused during these works, this essential infrastructure is necessary to provide modern, safe wastewater systems for our community," Cr Antonio said.

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