Board inspects Wyatt St Bore & other Portland facilities
20 May 2016
Portland is the focus of the Board of Wannon Water this week, with the Directors inspecting local water and sewerage facilities, meeting with local stakeholders and holding their monthly meeting in the city over two days.
The Board’s site tours on Thursday included visits to the Portland water reclamation plant, the water supply and treatment facilities at Bald Hill and the construction site for the Wyatt Street bore replacement project, which is moving towards completion.
Wannon Water Chair Jacinta Ermacora said the Board is very keen to tour its service region and meet with key stakeholders to ensure it has a strong understanding of local issues and the role it can play in strengthening local communities.
“As a Board, we see these regional tours as critical to our understanding of not just local water and sewerage services but also of any broader issues in the community,” Ms Ermacora said.
“We recognise how important Wannon Water’s services are to regional cities like Portland, which is why we’ve invested more than $30 million in infrastructure in the city in recent years to cater for future growth.
“There’s really no substitute for inspecting these sites first-hand and meeting stakeholders in person, and we really enjoyed speaking with representatives from Glenelg Shire, Committee for Portland, Parks Victoria and the Great South Coast Group while we’re here.”
Following tours of the Portland water reclamation plant and Bald Hill water supply facilities, the Board inspected the construction site for the Wyatt Street bore replacement project.
The $3 million project involves installing a new bore and decommissioning the existing bore, which has reached the end of its service life, to boost the future security of Portland’s drinking water supplies and ensure that water services can be maintained in the event of emergency.
“The Wyatt Street bore replacement is progressing well, with the contractor having now finished drilling the pilot bore and increasing the diameter of the bore hole down to a depth of 1.2 kilometres underground,” Ms Ermacora said.
“This critical part of the project has been slowed up in recent weeks after the contractor encountered some very hard rock underground, which has to be handled very delicately.
“We’re pleased to say, however, that the works continue to progress well and we expect the project to be completed in the next few months.”
Once the new bore is complete and fully tested, the existing bore will be decommissioned.
The Directors also took the opportunity to test out the Portland Business Hub, with Wannon Water’s monthly Board and committee meetings taking place there on Friday.
