A $4.8 million upgrade is underway at Heathcote Water Treatment Plant to improve water taste and odour and overall operational efficiency.
Manager Infrastructure Corey Bourne said the works will improve the broader water treatment process at the plant.
“We will be upgrading the disinfection equipment on site, including the UV system and chlorine treatment process.
“UV treatment ensures that microbiological pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, are eliminated and a chlorine contact tank will be added to the treatment process.
“This doesn’t mean we’re adding more chlorine to the water, we’re just changing the way in which chlorine is added to the water after the filtration process,” Mr Bourne said.
The additional treatment process that was added in recent years due to concerns around taste and odour will also be made a permanent treatment feature at the plant.
“We will be installing a permanent Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) dosing system, essentially providing another filtration barrier, which will significantly reduce the impacts of fluctuating raw water quality that can result in poor taste and odour.
“These works will allow the plant to run more smoothly and address the operational inefficiencies we’ve seen in the past,” Mr Bourne said.
There is not expected to be any interruption to drinking water supplies for customers in Heathcote and Tooborac who are supplied by the plant.
Mr Bourne said that changes being made to the water treatment process would not affect the safety of the drinking water supply.
“All drinking water is treated to a standard that meets the requirements of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and Victoria’s Safe Drinking Water Act,” he said.
The upgrades are expected to be complete around December 2019. Contractor Laurie Curran Water has been engaged to carry out these works.
Local residents may notice contractor vehicles coming and going from the plant during the works.
Updates will be available on the Heathcote Water Treatment Plant Project Page.