Coliban Water has resumed water releases to the Campaspe River to prevent a lagoon overflow at the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant.
David Sheehan, Executive General Manager Water Quality, said water had previously been released to the river between June and November this year, and was usual during the winter period.
“Due to significant predicted rainfall over the coming days, and the treatment lagoons at the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant being at capacity, we have made the decision to release some water again to the river. This is necessary to protect the embankments of the onsite lagoons.
“These releases of Class B recycled water to the Campaspe River will lower the risk of an unlicensed discharge via overflow of poorer quality lagoon water to nearby Snipes Creek,” Mr Sheehan said.
Class B recycled water is generally used for offsite irrigation during summer. During winter, the recycled water is generally discharged to the Campaspe River.
“We are always seeking to comply with our Environmental Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) Licence in relation to discharges to the Campaspe River. If flow rates in the river are too low, it means there is not enough dilution with the recycled water releases. In that case, if storage capacity exists on site, we blend the Class B recycled water with water in our onsite lagoons. It is then used for pasture irrigation.
“We notified the EPA on Wednesday of the increased flow rate of recycled water to the Campaspe River, which currently exceeds 20 per cent of receiving water flow rate, as measured at the Redesdale gauging station, which is a licence condition for discharge.”
Up to one megalitre of recycled water will be released per day from the plant to the Campapse River.
“We will continue to monitor water quality and conduct visual inspections along the river for the duration of the release,” Mr Sheehan said.
The release commenced Wednesday 12 December 2018 and is expected to be in place for up to ten days.
For further information call our Customer Support Team on 1300 363 200 (or 1300 COLIBAN).
Last updated on 09 Jul 2019