Residents of Tasmania’s King Island can now access water fit for royalty, with TasWater commissioning a new water treatment plant.
The multimillion-dollar project, which began in November last year, involved the construction of a raw water pump station at the Upper Grassy Dam, which pumps water to the newly constructed water treatment plant via a 26 km pipeline.
With the plant able to treat about 1 ML of water per day, TasWater CEO Michael Brewster said it would meet the needs of the Grassy and Currie communities now and for years to come.
“The new plant brings water treatment on the island up to modern day standards, and features controls and stringent processes to treat the water consistent with the requirements of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines,” Brewster said.
“It is extremely satisfying to now see this new plant fully operational and I recognise the considerable amount of work carried out by our local contractors and joint venture partners Laurie Curran Water and MSD.”
King Island is located in the Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria, and is home to about 1500 people. TasWater decided to upgrade its treated water services on the island in 2014 to ensure residents received a water supply comparable to the rest of the country.
“The King Island Water Treatment Plant demonstrates TasWater’s commitment to the economic development of the island and Tasmania, and I am confident it will provide enduring benefits to the community and the environment,” Brewster said.
It follows the success of TasWater’s focus on removing all public health alerts on drinking water across the state with its 24 Glasses and Small Regional Towns Water Supply programs. This saw the construction of 17 new water treatment plans, 73 km of new pipeline, four chlorination stations and 16 new reservoirs.
TasWater was recently awarded the Infrastructure Project Innovation Award at the Australian Water Association’s Tasmanian Water Awards for this work.
“Located in small communities, many of these projects are in areas where services are limited and to provide a water supply to residents which match the best in Australia is fantastic,” Brewster said.
“The benefit to local communities and economies cannot be underestimated, with good quality infrastructure a key to supporting regional Tasmania.”
