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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-17 Daily Xml
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PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: SOUTHERN URBAN RE-USE PROJECT

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (11:53): I move:

That the 326th report of the committee, on the Southern Urban Re-use Project, be noted.

The Waterproofing the South initiative is an integrated approach to expanding or substituting traditional sources of water with alternatives to better manage Adelaide South's existing water systems. The key elements of the initiative are:

expanded use of recycled water from the Christies Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant for viticulture;

irrigating some council owned parks and ovals with recycled water;

dual reticulation of recycled water at new residential developments south of the Onkaparinga River; and

localised stormwater capture and re-use.

SA Water was an active participant in the City of Onkaparinga's application to the National Water Commission for commonwealth funds to implement Waterproofing the South. The commonwealth agreed to fund $34.5 million and SA Water will contribute through its funding to the Southern Urban Re-use Project, which has been allocated $15 million by the commonwealth through the City of Onkaparinga as the lead agency.

The project is highly complex due to the need to integrate with other projects in the area, negotiate with other participants, and take account of contractual arrangements relating to recycled water in the area. The project will intercept treated effluent from the Christies Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant prior to discharge to the ocean, and transfer it to the Aldinga Waste Water Treatment Plant site. SA Water-owned land is available at Aldinga to provide annual balancing storages and further treatment to achieve the water quality required for dual reticulation re-use of the effluent. From Aldinga, the treated water will be supplied to the proposed developments in residential areas around Seaford.

The Adelaide Coastal Waters Study Report determined that, for ongoing seagrass health and recovery, the load of total nitrogen discharged into the gulf from the Christies Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant should be reduced by approximately 60 per cent from the 2003 level.

The reduction can be achieved exclusively through the implementation of further significant treatment plant upgrades or by a modest plant upgrade together with an increased customer uptake of treated wastewater for re-use applications. The most cost-effective approach is to upgrade the plant and to actively pursue additional re-use opportunities.

On the completion of this project, an additional 1,600 megalitres per annum will be available for residential re-use, and the re-use demand has the potential to grow to 3,200 megalitres per annum over the next 25 years. The cost to SA Water of the proposed scope of works is $62.615 million and includes:

an effluent capture structure at the Christies Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant;

a 10 megalitres per day pumping station at Christies Beach to transfer treated wastewater to Aldinga;

a 375 millimetre diameter transfer pipeline from Christies Beach to Aldinga;

a 700 megalitres bulk water storage at the Aldinga site;

an 8.5 megalitres a day tertiary water treatment process at Aldinga;

a 10 megalitres a day pumping station at the Aldinga site; and

a 375 millimetres diameter dual reticulation recycled water pipeline from Aldinga to the Seaford Meadows development.

United Water International Pty Ltd will be responsible for the project management and design and construction management of this project in accordance with the terms of its existing agreement with SA Water. In accordance with the terms of that agreement, an external consultant has independently assessed the delivery fees and target costs proposed by United Water.

The staging of works is critical for the successful implementation of the project due to key site constraints. For example, the effluent transfer pumping station is at an operational plant which needs to be functional at all times, as effluent discharge cannot be temporarily stopped. Also, the available space for the pumping station within the Christies Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant means it must have a small footprint. The target date for construction to be complete is 30 June 2010.

Altering the discharge at Christies Beach from marine waters to an aboveground storage lagoon at Aldinga will require a licence under the Environment Protection Act. An assessment of potential environmental impact is needed, so close consultation with the EPA has occurred through the project development.

As the project involves providing recycled water to new residential developments, SA Water is developing a Recycled Water Risk Management Plan for this proposal effectively to minimise the risk to public health. This will be in accordance with the National Guidelines for Water Recycling and will be presented to the Department of Health for approval. The key aims of the project are to:

provide recycled water for dual reticulation in new residential areas to the south of Adelaide, thereby reducing demand for potable water;

reduce the volume of treated effluent discharged to Gulf St Vincent;

accommodate growth to around the year 2020; and

enhance sustainability of the Christies Beach and Aldinga wastewater treatment plants.

By increasing the volumes of treated wastewater re-used from the Christies Beach plant, the project will reduce the volume of treated wastewater discharged into Gulf St Vincent.

The treated wastewater will be used at new developments in the southern area for urban uses, including garden watering and toilet flushing. This will be a direct benefit to new homeowners and will also bring broader environmental and social benefits through direct savings on potable water use and reduced flows to the marine environment. Additional storage at the Aldinga Waste Water Treatment Plant will make this water available year round, including winter when re-use demand is usually low.

Based upon the evidence presented to it, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public work.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:59): This is an interesting project which will be good for the Southern Vales and McLaren Vale. It is important to note that the driving force for this was the local community, not the state government. The government was able eventually to get it going and get it through the Public Works Committee, but the local community down south look after their own business. They know what needs doing and they put forward this project, as I understand it, and we dealt with it many months ago, it seems.

We look forward to this project coming to fruition. We look forward to it being of benefit. The member for Norwood has indicated a myriad of uses that this water will be used for and where it is going to go. They talked about Seaford Meadows, the vales, the vineyards and everything else, so it is a step in the right direction. What we must do in this state, which we are not doing at the moment, is to secure more of our stormwater and re-use more of our effluent disposal water.

Motion carried.

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