$1M Investment to Safe, Clean Water for Toora & Fish Creek

Thursday, July 30th, 2020

As part of our commitment to high quality, safe, clean drinking water and reliable services, South Gippsland Water will shortly begin works to upgrade the treated water storage basins for Toora and Fish Creek, an investment of some $1M in safe, clean drinking water for rural communities in South Gippsland. New liners and floating covers will be installed on both basins, replacing the existing liners which are now past their useful life.
The water storage basins both hold 1 million litres of water each, and are a key component of providing reliable, clean and safe water to the townships. Used to store water once it has been treated, the basins provide system capacity and ensure a reliable supply of water in the event of a burst water main or treatment plant interruption.
Made from a durable plastic material the liners fully seal the basins and include a floating cover, to ensure that once treated, water remains in pristine condition for customers. However, at nearly 20 years old, the existing liners and covers require replacement. South Gippsland Water’s Managing Director, Philippe du Plessis said that, “The liners at Toora and Fish Creek, are the first of 6 being replaced as part of the Price, Services, Future Plan which provides a $3.3M investment to new liners and high quality water for our customers across the region”.
Two contractors will complete the works with GEM Industrial from Leongatha secured to complete the civil and site works, whilst Geotest from South Australia, completing the manufacture and installation works of the liner and cover replacements.
GEM Industrial will start in August at the Toora storage basin located above the township, uphill from the Highway, to do civil and site works. Once complete at Toora, GEM Industrial will move on to preparations at Fish Creek basin which is located inside the township, on Old Waratah Road. Geotest will follow on from GEM Industrial completing the liner installation at each site. It is anticipated that in total, works will take three months to complete and will be done by November.
During the construction works both basins will be taken ‘offline’ and out of use, to allow them to be emptied and the new liners installed. This means that for a period of time, customers in these townships may experience some changes to the pressure and flow of their water supply. Customers may notice changes during these works, however water will remain clean and safe to drink at all times.
Water service interruptions are not anticipated as part of the planned works, however due to the changed operating conditions during the works, the Operations Team will be looking to have additional on-call and reactive maintenance personnel available in the event of water main bursts or breaks, so that they can quickly respond.
For queries, questions or to discuss the project, contact the Project Engineer, Nathan Lucas on 1300 851 636.

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