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Brogo Water Treatment Plant Upgrade

Upgrade of the Water Treatment Plant which services the Brogo-Bermagui network to improve water supply reliability and quality.

Project Summary/background

Bega Valley Shire Council has completed construction of the Brogo Water Treatment Plant (WTP). The WTP has improved the reliability and quality of drinking water to the Brogo-Bermagui system, which includes the townships of Quaama, Cobargo, Wallaga Lake and Bermagui, as well as rural customers connected to trunk mains.

The previous facility was made up of a chlorinator and balance tank, which only provided a single, disinfection treatment step to raw water from the Brogo River. While this served the community reasonably well for the past 30 years there are numerous occasions when boil water notices have been issued due to the quality of water in the Brogo River.  

The recent bushfires over the 2019/2020 summer were a reminder of the vulnerability of the old water treatment process to changes in river water quality, with boil water notices and trucking from unaffected catchments in the south required at a significant cost.

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The upgrade includes the introduction of a ‘filtration step’ using a Dissolved Air Flotation and Filtration (DAFF) unit. This unit will float suspended sediment and organics to the surface where they are removed before passing through a media filter. This will bring the water supplied to the Brogo-Bermagui into alignment with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

As part of the upgrade, a fluoridation step is to be included at a later date, in accordance with the New South Wales Code of Practice for Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies. The upgrade also includes pump stations, water storage tanks and other water treatment equipment required to allow the WTP to operate.

Purpose

The key objective of the WTP upgrade is to improve water quality standards and water supply reliability to bring in line with the rest of NSW, by consistently providing clean and safe drinking water to the shire’s north.

Funding

Funded by the NSW Government's Safe and Secure Water Program $10.7m, with a Council contribution of $2.5m.

Connection to Council's Community Strategic Plan

This project is connect to Council's Community Strategic Plan through Outcome 3; Goal 6; Strategy 13 and Outcome 4; Goal 8; Strategy 18.

What has the planning process for the project involved?

GHD Pty Ltd was engaged by Council in the role of Owners Engineer for the upgrade of the WTP. This included preparing a Review of Environmental Factors (REF). The purpose of the REF is to describe the proposal, to document the likely impacts of the proposal on the environment, to detail mitigation measures to be implemented, and to determine whether the proposal can proceed. In doing so, the REF helped to fulfil the requirements of Section 5.5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979; that Council examine and take into account to the fullest extent possible all matters affecting or likely to affect the environment by reason of the activity.

Contract awarded

Council awarded the Design and Construct Contract to LC Water Pty Ltd. Construction commenced in August 2021 and was completed early 2023. Following a successful testing period, the new Brogo-Bermagui Water Treatment Plant was switched on and our northern customers are now connected to a reliable supply of clean and filtered water.

Who can I speak to:

Sam Watson
Project & Contract Management Officer
Bega Valley Shire Council
Phone: (02) 6499 2222
Email: council@begavalley.nsw.gov.au

 

Timeline of works

The timeline of the upgrade process is outlined below:

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

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