Fully treated water for the Fingal Valley town of Avoca is getting closer every day.
The 29 kilometre pipeline which will supply treated water to Avoca from the Fingal water treatment plant is being laid in three stages alongside the Esk Highway.
The 110 millimetre diameter polyethylene pipeline is being laid from both the Avoca and Fingal ends with a third section of work dealing with more difficult terrain where the ground is rocky.
The bulk of the pipe line is being directionally drilled through the soil about a metre below ground.
First, the drill head and a series of metal rods, connected as they go, are drilled horizontally for about 140 metres. The pipe is then connected to the drill head and drawn back along the newly drilled section. Water is pumped through the pipe to assist the process. Each 140 metre section of pipe is then joined using electrofusion welding connectors.
The pipe laying project between Avoca and Fingal is being carried out by Tasmanian based company, Water Industry Solutions.
Most of the pipe is laid along the road reserve of the Esk Highway with workers on site reporting they have generally encountered good pipe installation conditions.
Water at Avoca will be stored in the existing town reservoir with the current equipment retained to boost chlorination levels in the water after arriving from Fingal.
TasWater CEO Michael Brewster says he is really pleased to see progress in water services to smaller communities in Tasmania.
“I am happy too, to use this year’s national water week (16-22 October) to highlight projects around the state aimed at improving water quality.”
“Avoca is just one of several towns where a significant amount of money is being invested, part of TasWater’s annual spend of around $100 million on infrastructure upgrades.”
And our work isn’t going to ease up with plans to bring all our Tasmanian water supplies up to standard over the next two years so we can remove all existing boil water advisories.
Avoca residents should be receiving fully treated water by April 2017 following a period of commissioning of the new pipeline and approval from the Department of Health and Human Services.
TasWater
