Infill sewerage program projects planned for the South-West region

16/10/99
Projects worth about $12 million under the State Government's major infill sewerage program are planned for the South-West region in 1999-2000.
Water Resources Minister Dr Kim Hames said today that this allocation followed $44 million spent on projects in the region during the first half of the program - the highest regional allocation outside the metropolitan area.
Projects this financial year will concentrate on Bunbury, Busselton, Donnybrook, Mandurah and Ravenswood, providing sewerage services to more than 1,000 properties, more than half of them in Mandurah - Falcon and Busselton - Broadwater and West Busselton.
"As well as making an important contribution to the region's economy, the program is bringing significant benefits for the environment and public health which are its primary objectives," Dr Hames said.
"Access to sewerage schemes boosts growth in some South-West centres by enabling the construction of higher density housing and tourist accommodation which could not be built while there was a high reliance on septic tanks.
"The infill program, which is managed by the Water Corporation for the State Government, has now reached the half-way mark and has provided access to sewerage systems for 45,440 properties throughout Western Australia.
"When completed in 2004 it will have serviced around 111,000 properties where septic tanks have been leaching about 1500 tonnes of nutrients into shallow groundwater systems every year.
"Getting rid of all those tanks will be a big benefit to our environment, although it will take a number of years for existing pollutants to disappear from the system.
"There will also be an important public health benefit with the end of potentially harmful infectious micro organisms from raw sewage leaching from septic tanks.
"Properties provided with new sewerage systems should be connected as soon as possible so septic tanks can be taken out of commission."
Dr Hames said the program had met its objective of providing sewerage systems to areas of greatest public health risk during its first five years. These were generally adjacent to waterways or wetlands or prone to flooding.
The program was scheduled to take 10 years to complete and cost about $800 million - one of the biggest public works projects in the State's history.
"In the South-West these have included two projects aimed at protecting the Leschenault Inlet and the Harvey Estuary," he said.
"The $700,000 Leschenault Inlet project involved constructing a scheme for 85 properties at Australind which has a high water table. The $1.9 million Harvey Estuary project is providing reticulated sewerage for 189 properties at Wannamup, south of Mandurah, where adverse soil conditions hamper the efficiency of septic tanks.
"Inland at Donnybrook major benefits for health and the environment, as well as the local economy, will come from an extensive infill project plus a new wastewater treatment plant at a total cost of more than $7 million over five years.
"Infill projects are providing hundreds of jobs around the State and creating demand for about 300km of pipes each year as well as a range of equipment, materials and hardware, most of which is purchased in WA.
"All of the program's projects are subject to open, competitive tendering.
"Contractors have increasingly adopted new construction methods including micro-tunnelling to reduce disruption to residents, motorists and businesses."
Media contacts: Caroline Lacy 9424 7450
Water Corporation: Phil Kneebone 9420 2420