Cheers: Coliban Water assets and operations chief officer Danny McLean, Coliban Water managing director Damian Wells, Echuca Water Treatment Plant lead operator Ash Dedini and Echuca Regional Health chief executive officer Robyn Lindsay celebrate the multi-million upgrade of the Echuca Water Treatment Plant.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Coliban Water is using a $17 million investment to help future-proof the region’s clean water supply.
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The four years of work included a $10 million upgrade at the Echuca Water Treatment Plant to improve long-term water security, capacity, storage and disinfection.
It also included $5 million for the Echuca West Tanks Project and $2 million for sewer odour mitigation works in the town.
Operation: Coliban Water’s Echuca Water Treatment Plant.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The increase in capacity is the four new tanks that have been built across the two sites, according to Coliban Water assets and operations chief officer Danny McLean.
“Having more storage means more resilience in the network and more resilience from a treatment point of view,” Mr McLean said.
Looking good: Coliban Water’s Echuca Water Treatment Plant.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
“We’ve got more water in storage so as the town grows, as the population grows and at those peak times from a tourist point of view we’ve got more resilience in our network.”
The replacement of the ageing infrastructure should ensure enough water and enough durability to last the region for the next 20 years.
Upgraded: Coliban Water’s Echuca Water Treatment Plant.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
“We've designed the new storage for about 2045. So there’s a 20-year growth period for these assets just installed,” Coliban Water’s managing director Damian Wells said.
“The three key challenges we are really focused on at coal and water are those challenges of ageing assets, population growth and climate change.”
The potential for more extreme climate-related weather events have been been taken into account as part of the investment.
Making a point: Coliban Water managing director Damian Wells at the grand opening of the newly-upgraded Echuca Water Treatment Plant.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
“This particular site can be subject to flooding if it's not protected by the earthen levee that surrounds the site ... if this asset had been impacted by the floods directly, that would be a major disruption for the Echuca community,” Mr Wells said.
“We got our partners to add another 400ml onto the top of this existing levee just to give us a good margin of safety to make sure that the asset was protected.”
Mr Wells said Coliban Water takes very seriously the responsibility it has for the community and for local water quality.
“Providing safe drinking water to the community is a big responsibility and we want to make sure that we're ahead of the challenges. And so to do that, we need to invest,” he said.
“Everyone in Echuca, when they pay their water bill, they're paying for these assets.
“So we need to strike the balance between what's the right level of investment at any point in time.”
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