New water infrastructure for Mt Beauty
10 August 2021
North East Water is planning new water infrastructure for Mt Beauty, with a raw water offtake to be built on the east bank of the Kiewa River.
The new offtake will allow river water to be pumped to the local water treatment plant in Tawonga South before it is returned back into the community as drinking water.
Executive Planning & Infrastructure Rebecca Jhonston said it will be built downstream of the Pondage spillway on Embankment Drive.
“The new offtake will be closer to the water treatment plant and will replace old infrastructure built in the 1970’s”, Ms Jhonston said.
“It will allow for increased capacity in line with projected population growth and will also remove the historic limitations currently presented by relying on AGL’s hydro operations.
“The dangers of repairing and maintaining our current offtake pipeline will be eliminated and the new offtake will also reduce impacts from bushfires and rockslides.
“The chosen site is the best location for uninterrupted water extraction as it is downstream of AGL operations and has guaranteed river flows.”
Ms Jhonston added, “The proposed works will consist of a small weir in the West Kiewa River to ensure adequate water levels during low flow periods, a fish passage structure and a pump station located in a building adjacent to the river.”
“A new pipeline along Embankment Drive will also be installed to connect to the existing water supply pipe to the water treatment plant.
“We will be liaising with the community about how North East Water can improve the area adjacent to the new pump station.
“This includes feedback on external construction materials used on the pump station building, river bank improvements and also nearby landscaping.
“We’ll be holding two community drop-in sessions at the Mt Beauty Community Centre between 10am and 3pm on 30 August, or between 5pm and 8pm on 31 August.
”This will be a COVIDSafe event and will be dependent on coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.”
Construction is likely to start at the beginning of February 2022 and expected to last for 18 months.