25/08/2017

Council wastewater scheme wins Major Australasian Engineering Awards

The Timaru District Council’s Wastewater Strategy has been named as one of Australia and New Zealand’s most outstanding public works engineering projects.

Timaru District Council was presented with the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) Excellence in Water Project 2017 award for the Timaru Districtwide Wastewater Strategy at an awards dinner in Perth this week.

Judged by a panel of industry experts, the finalists represented the industry’s best of the best, having already won their category from each Australian state and New Zealand in 2015-2017.

The judges noted that: “This project involved wide community and stakeholder engagement and consultation to arrive at a scheme that eliminates discharges to the river from the inland towns, by piping treated wastewater to the existing ocean outfall, replacing a network of pump stations and trunk sewers with gravity sewers, separating domestic and industrial flows, and upgrading the existing WWTP for treatment of the domestic wastewater stream.

"It’s fantastic that Timaru District Council have remained on programme and completed the implementation plan that was set in place 15 years ago,” they concluded.

In 1997, Timaru District Council (TDC) embarked on a strategy to upgrade its sewer system and wastewater treatment plants in the north eastern part of the district.

The strategy recognised the need to cease discharges to inland waterways, and the Opihi River and its tributaries, rising standards for ocean discharges, and the need to upgrade or replace existing ageing and under-capacity pump stations and trunk sewer pipelines.

The overall Wastewater Strategy from 1997 to 2014 involved an expenditure of $60.7 million. The last phase of the strategy, the Aorangi Road Domestic WWTP ($19.1 million), was completed in January 2015

Timaru District Mayor, Damon Odey, said that it was awesome news that this project was getting the recognition it deserved.

“Sometimes these long term, large infrastructure projects can fly under the radar, so it’s great that a panel of engineering peers has recognised this project.

“The award is testament to the vision, work and long term commitment of this council, from past and present elected members, through to the excellent team within our organisation and it shows that we are a forward thinking and leading council, producing some world-class work in Timaru.

“The project has caused improvements for ratepayers, local businesses and the local environment, so it’s something that should be celebrated by the whole community.”

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