WALWA SEWAGE SCHEME
Thursday, 12 March, Towong Shire Council representatives met with Walwa and district community members to discuss a number of issues. This was the first of a round of community forums which TSC is conducting in different locations throughout the shire. If you missed the notification and were not invited but would still be interested in having your say please access the information and leave your feedback on the TSC website or contact the TSC directly.
There were three issues dealt with at the meeting: The Walwa Waste Water Project, the Walwa Streetscape Project and finally a brainstorming session was conducted for ideas to be incorporated into the new Towong Shire Council four year plan. This article only address the outcomes of the Walwa Waste Water discussions.
Present at the meeting were: The Mayor, Cr Mary Fraser, Cr Debbi Gadd, Cr Phillip Coysh, Technical Services Manager, Garry Mawby and the acting CEO of TSC, Juliana Phelps. Cr Mary Fraser introduced the subject of the Walwa Waste Water Project, discussed some of the background information and then allowed Juliana Phelps to deliver the news of council’s decision on the issue.
Juliana said that councillors had considered the submissions and comments made to council in opposition of the design concept proposed by JH Civil, (the winning tenderer for the design construct and maintain contract for the Walwa Waste Water Treatment System, awarded at the end of 2008). JH Civil proposes to maintain the sound existing septic tanks and connect black water septic tank outflows and all grey water from Walwa households to a reticulated system through town to feed down to oxidation ponds located on the Walwa Recreation Reserve. These ponds were to be located in an area occupying most of the land behind the northern goals. Juliana indicated that there had been some variations to the contract made to accommodate some of the concerns of residents, but the bottom line is that there will still be oxidation (septic) ponds on the Walwa Recreation Reserve.
She went on to say that Council, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), North East Water (NEW) and the consultant employed by TSC, Daryl McGregor were opposed to the reedbed concept. This was the favoured system of the opponents of the oxidation ponds idea. Council is still of the opinion that, despite the fact that JH Civil’s proposal is based on technology that has been around for the past 50 years, it still meets the criteria of being innovative and the oxidation ponds are a form of wetlands.
The TSC consultant has advised the council that the maintenance on a reedbed system is expensive and the technology is unproven and questions its longevity. This is all conflicts with the experience of the reedbed system in operation at the WBNC and in other localities such as Henty and Brisbane.
The TSC has developed a design variation in deference to community concerns which includes:
The footprint of the oxidation ponds is to be reduced by making the ponds deeper. (They will be lined so that the water table will not be contaminated) Predicted area occupied by the ponds: 2200m2.
The ponds will be relocated to the north east corner of the reserve. (Maximising the distance from the oval and perimeter of the treatment works).
Council will provide landscaping to improve the aesthetics of the waste water treatment site.
Aerators may be incorporated to reduce possible odour.
As a gesture to the reedbed enthusiasts, a small reedbed will be incorporated as a final treatment (water polishing) prior to feeding into the subsurface irrigation system.
Additional filters will be installed to ensure water quality supplied to the subsurface irrigation is of sufficient quality.
TSC has admitted that EPA approval for this modified version of the project has yet to be granted and some processes still have to be finalised before works can commence. The winter storage dam will be the first portion of the project to be completed in order to meet the deadline on part of the funding. As an estimate it is anticipated that the whole project will be completed by March 2010. It was made clear to the community attendees that due to the potential expiration of grants, the choice was either this solution or none.
The councillors, Garry Mawby and Juliana Phelps thanked everyone for contributing to the meeting and assured the community that the Walwa Waste Water Project will be moving ahead as a TSC priority and they will ensure that progress will be reported to the community efficiently.