Bridport water fix in the works
• TasWater’s Community and Stakeholder Engagement team members Eleanor Talbot and Imbi Josey meet Bridport Innovations’ president Jill Van denBosch and treasurer Len Gillett.
By Tony Scott
February 24, 2021
The long-maligned Bridport water supply could be in sight of improvement.
TasWater representatives have told a meeting of the local progress group Bridport Innovations the project is back on the capital works program for between 2022-26.
It was previously due for completion in 2017-18, but was deferred as the organisation prioritised works to have removed boil water alerts from 19 towns around the State and upgraded systems like Derby, Ringarooma and Winnaleah.
Community and Stakeholder Engagement officer Imbi Josey told the meeting TasWater recognised Bridport’s issues.
There was limited raw water storage capacity, especially in times of low flow and limited capacity for treatment.
The problems compounded in summer when there was peak water demand because of the influx of visitors.
The result has been that the town is always one of the first to have restrictions imposed on water use and they are generally more severe and long lasting than elsewhere.
“It’s recognised that Bridport is growing and there has to be a long-term solution” Ms Josey said.
She said a review of options to improve the supply had favoured the installation of a pipeline to the Scottsdale treatment plant, which would be subject to further investigation and planning.
This course would take advantage of better quality and more reliable water supply and an over capacity at the Scottsdale treatment plant.
Options that were rejected included upgrading the Bridport water treatment plant and increasing raw water storage or investigating alternative water sources, such as groundwater or even a desalination plant, to supplement Bridport’s supply from the Brid River.
Ms Josey and specialist colleague Eleanor Talbot also addressed questions about the Bridport sewerage system.
Bridport Innovations’ president Jill Van denBosch commended TasWater for responding quickly to a complaint in December about odour from a pump station near the Old Pier.
“They were on the scene within a couple of hours and used some chemical to try to mask the smell, but it would obviously be better if the odour could be prevented in the first place.”
Ms Talbot said the wastewater treatment system worked 80 to 90 per cent of the time.
“There can be problems arise at times of high usage or hot weather or a build-up of old sewage.”
Eight new aerators had been installed at the treatment ponds and they should start to have noticeable benefit.
Questions were also raised about the outfall into the sea at Granite Point and a notice warning recreational users of the area.
Resident Len Gillett said the pipe was one of only two in Tasmania that didn’t meet even half the TasWater’s own standard for flow into the environment.
Ms Talbot said reusing the treated waste water on land was a better solution, but there needed to be a long-term commitment to justify costs involved.