Water plant delay fears

By Tuck Thompson
May 03, 2007

A CENTRAL plank in the State Government’s strategy to save southeast Queensland from running dry could be at risk of running over time.

The Government plans to deliver 145 million litres of treated wastewater a day into Wivenhoe Dam, but it emerged yesterday orders have only recently been placed for a crucial component.

The hi-tech membranes, which filter ultra-fine contaminants from wastewater, are taking up to two years to deliver to some treatment plants interstate and overseas because of the massive global demand.

The Government is building advanced treatment plants at Bundamba, west of Brisbane, and at Gibson Island and Luggage Point, near the mouth of the Brisbane River.

They will produce recycled water which will be pumped to power plants, industrial users and to Wivenhoe for household use.

A source close to the project confirmed orders for some of the membranes were placed only a few months ago but were needed by June 2008.

Another source said the Government had been forced to engage three overseas suppliers because no single one could deliver all the membranes in time.

Infrastructure Minister Anna Bligh rejected suggestions the project could be delayed and said the Government had ensured lead times were as long as possible.

However, Tweed Shire Council, in northern NSW, has still not received membranes for its water treatment plant despite placing an order in 2005.

Tweed water engineer Anthony Burnham said the components were “scarce as hen’s teeth”.

“Demand is high and there is a limited number of suppliers,” he said.

It was possible the Government might be able to negotiate a faster turnaround because of the scale of its order, but the source admitted he was worried.

Ms Bligh’s office released a statement saying the Government was negotiating with its partners on the final scope of the treatment plants.

“We need to ensure on-time delivery and value for money for taxpayers,” it said.

The statement went on to claim the Government and its partners were “in constant contact with membrane suppliers/manufacturers” and that “production capacity for these components has been secured”.

However, the Government’s water infrastructure consultants, Evans and Peck, stated in a recent report projects like the Western Corridor scheme normally took five to seven years

Ms Bligh, who inspected work at the Gibson Island plant yesterday, said “teams are pulling out all the stops and on some sites going around the clock. They know we are in a race against time”.

Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney said the unrealistic completion date would increase the chance of errors.

“I can’t find anything like it built in the world in this timeframe. It is less than half the time required,” he said.

Rush to finish pipeline
Tony Moore

May 3, 2007

The pressure for water for South-East Queensland is intensifying on two stages.

The State Government is now looking at new sources of recycled water and accelerating work on Brisbane’s recycled water pipeline.

Deputy Premier Anna Bligh has inspected work underway at the Gibson Island Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant at Murrarie.

Three leading-edge wastewater plants to treat water are being built at Gibson Island, further north at Luggage Point and at Bundamba, as part of the three-stage, $1.7 billion Western Corridor Recycled Water project.

These are linked by 200 kilometres of pipeline, which will ultimately pump the recycled water to Swanbank and Tarong power stations and then to Wivenhoe Dam.

More than 700 people are working at both ends of the pipeline, and this number is expected to increase to 1000 in an attempt to complete the work by December 2008.

In the first stage, recycled water will be piped to Swanbank Power station by the end of August this year, then to Tarong Power station by June 2008.

The Gibson Island plant is expected to be finished by the end of 2008.
Ms Bligh said she remained confident the Western Corridor project would be completed before water supplies in South-East Queensland ran dry.

“There are now close to 1,000 workers working on the western corridor pipeline and we are on track to have this water to drink as soon as the plant is finished in November/December next year,” she said.

She said the wastewater plants were the only ones in Australia using the combination of micro-filtration and reverse osmosis membrane technologies to treat the water.

The pipelines have to travel under the Brisbane River and the project team has imported micro-tunnelling machines to burrow under roads and railway lines.

Meanwhile, the Government has begun to widen its search for other sources of recycled water after the relative success of Level 5 water restrictions.

Queensland Water Commission’s monthly reports forecast the output of the Western Corridor Recycled Water project to drop from 210 megalitres per day to 165 megalitres per day.

Ms Bligh conceded yesterday the figure could drop to 142 megalitres per day as Level 5 restrictions took hold and new sources were now needed.

“The Queensland Water Commission is working with councils across South-East Queensland, the Sunshine Coast and other parts of the Brisbane region to identify any other sources of recycled water that we could effectively put into the system, as well as any other ways of harnessing rainwater that is currently going into Moreton Bay,” Ms Bligh said.

“Those discussions are at an early stage but we hope to be able to supplement that supply into the pipeline before the project is finalised at the end of next year.”

Liberal leader Bruce Flegg questioned the suitability of treating salty, brackish water.

“Although I welcome anything that will help ensure a secure water supply for South-East Queensland, there are significant issues surrounding the use of brackish water that make it almost as complex as desalination,” he said.

“This will make the water recycling plants into defacto desalination plants.

“If the use of brackish water was a viable solution, it should have been considered months ago.

“The fact that this idea is being snatched from the air at this late stage, without any scientific backing, means it should be viewed suspiciously.”
Harvesting stormwater was one issue identified last month by a research partnership between Queensland’s universities and the State Government.

Time cut for filters

By Tuck Thompson

May 04, 2007

ONLY six months of safety tests will be possible for an ambitious plan to pump recycled wastewater into southeast Queensland’s drinking supply.
A similar scheme rejected by Toowoomba residents last year called for more than two years of testing and plans to inject treated wastewater into Perth’s underground water supply involved one year’s safety checks.

The State Government has been battling to meet deadlines for its Western Corridor pipeline scheme, due by December 2008, but is already up to two months behind schedule for laying some sections of pipeline.

Even if it catches up, there will be a period of only about six months to test hi-tech membranes for filtering impurities.

The scheme involves pumping treated sewage from Luggage Point, Gibson Island and Bundamba wastewater plants to power stations, industrial users and the Wivenhoe Dam.

Before Toowoomba last year rejected a council proposal to recycle its wastewater, the CSIRO recommended testing for a period of two years. Perth will take a year to conduct health tests at a pilot project.

Deputy Premier Anna Bligh said yesterday that the commissioning of Luggage Point and Gibson Island treatment plants would take six months but the treated water would be safe. “Our operator has indicated this is a sufficient period of time to ensure water meets Australian Drinking Water guidelines,” she said.

Without significant rain in the next 18 months it is likely recycled water will make up a third or more of Brisbane’s water supply by 2009.

The Government meanwhile claimed special wastewater filtration membranes were already being delivered in batches to the Bundamba plant.

However, it would initially supply only 20 megalitres a day to the Swanbank power station, a fraction of the 165ML expected to be delivered overall by the Western Corridor project.

Ms Bligh’s office did not answer questions from The Courier-Mail about when orders were placed for membranes for Luggage Point, which would supply up to 100ML a day.

It also did not say when it expected those membranes to arrive and which company was supplying them. Sources have said they were concerned worldwide demand for the components could mean they might not arrive in time.

Thiess executive general manager of infrastructure Ray Wilson, whose company was responsible for the Bundamba part of the project, said it was on track and membranes would arrive when needed.