A $3.5million upgrade to the Augusta Water Treatment Plant, to meet the town's growing demand on water supplies and improve water quality, is now complete.
Water Minister Terry Redman today toured the recently upgraded facility, which included improvements to increase output from three existing groundwater bores; construction of a new bore; and advances in technology and processes to maximise water production.
"The upgrade increased the capacity of the water treatment plant by 60 per cent, from 1.8 million litres to three million litres per day," Mr Redman said.
"Through power supply improvements and the addition of a highly efficient filtration system, the Water Corporation has maximised the production capacity of the existing plant and groundwater bores.
"The corporation has also improved treatment processes by installing an innovative process to treat Augusta's acidic groundwater and help improve water quality.
"The new treatment process, which is unique to Augusta, has attracted industry recognition having won the Australian Water Association's Infrastructure Project Innovation for 2012. It will be used to guide decisions on the suitability of this technology at other locations."
The upgrade project was delivered under budget and has guaranteed the water supply needs of the popular tourist town for the next decade.
The Minister said the next scheduled expansion of the plant to five million litres per day is scheduled after 2023.
Fact File
Increased output is from improved production from existing bores, four monitoring bores established and a new five million litres per day production bore for future use
The treatment process at Augusta uses calcite, a by-product of alkaline groundwater pH correction at a water treatment plant in Perth, to treat acidic groundwater
Minister's office - 6552 6700
Water Minister Terry Redman and Scott Moorhead inspect the plant.
