Melbourne Waters Role in Addressing the Growing Water Supply Needs - Case Study Example

Melbourne Water’s Role in Addressing the Growing Water Supply Needs of a rapidly Developing City Such as Melbourne Saudi Arabia Name of University Submitted by Names: Tutor: Date Melbourne Water’s Role in Addressing the Growing Water Supply Needs of a rapidly Developing City Such as Melbourne Overview Melbourne Water is a statutory authority owned by the State government of Victoria and governed by the Minister for Water in conjunction with the Board of Directors. The company controls systems of water in Victoria, Melbourne, and the whole of Australia. Apart from providing clean water to the residents of the fore mentioned areas, it manages sewage and drainage systems and reservoirs. Its customers have been retail water business in the Metropolis, which have included South East Water, City Water and Yarra Valley Water. Others have been land development industry, local council and other water authorities. The company mostly operates under the Water Act of 1989 and Water Industry Act of 1994. It was formed when a number of urban authorities merged with the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (Yarra Valley Water 2014). Currently, Melbourne water is under the Victoria Water Industry Association, which is the peak association of such companies in the whole of Victoria (Victoria State Government 2011). Company Infrastructure The company operates and manages its water supply system that comprises of the following infrastructures (Viggers, Weaver, and Lindenmayer 2014): Catchment areas covering over 140, 000 hectares Ten storage reservoirs (major) holding 1,810,500 mega liters in capacity 64 service reservoirs for short term storage About 1300 kilometers of aqueducts and distribution mains 49 disinfection treatment plants Five water plants for filtration 18 stations of pumping, to pump water from low areas to high areas Moreover, the company has a seawater desalination plant in Wonthaggi region to provide additional 150 gigalitres annually The Northern Sewerage Project, which is one of the company’s major projects, will be helpful in eliminating sewerage overflows in the Moonee Creeks and Merri Ponds Creeks that occurs due to heavy rain (Melbourne Water 2014). How Does Melbourne Water Address the Need of Water in the Rapidly Growing City of Melbourne? Sourcing Water Sourcing Water from Prospective Catchments Areas The company normally sources water from various catchment areas. It has been noted that it gets 80% of its water from the uninhabited forestlands in the central Highlands and Yarra Ranges. Therefore it has been the duty of the company to close the forested area, which is normally reserved at 1570 km2 for the water catchments. Major catchments areas under its management are the Wallaby, which is within King Lake National Park and represents about1.9% of the total inflow. Maroondah, which is within Yarra Ranges National Park, provides an 11.4% of water inflow into the system. O’Shannassy, and Upper Yarra catchments which provide 11.4% and 18.7% respectively, are also found in the Yarra Ranges National Park. Moreover, the company has also benefited from various Yarra tributeries that include Cement, Armstrong, Starvation Creek and McMahons which have provided a total inflow of 3.8%. Other catchment areas have been Thomson and Sugarloaf. The former is mainly found in the Bawbaw national Park and State Forest, providing around 35.3% of the total inflow. For Suargloaf, which provides around 10.7% of the total inflow, has its water being pumped from Yarra River and then fully treated (Melbourne Water 2014). Sourcing from Desalination From desalination, the company gets around additional 150 gigaliters annually for its cities to use. Since the Thomson Dam was approved in 1975, the project has represented the biggest boost to the company’s water systems. In this regard, The Victorian Desalination Plant desalinates by removing salts and other minerals from sea water through the process of reverse osmosis membranes. Built in 2012, the facility is yet to become operational. This is because the government has not ordered any water from it. However, the water desalination facility has undergone various tests so that to make it meet the standards of the Victorian Safe Drinking Water Act, Australian Drinking Water guidelines and World Health Organization. As the company management asserts, the water has been variously tested to meet the standards of the water that Melbournians currently enjoy (Melbourne Water 2014). After desalination, if the plant will become operational, the water will be flowing from Wonthaggi to Berwick at a distance of 84 kilometers. It will be at Berwick where it will join other water supply networks to flow on to Cardinia Reservoir and mix with water from fresh water catchments. From the Cardinia Reservoir, the water can easily be transferred to Silvan Researvoir which will make it very easy to be transferred to most parts of Melbourne. Moreover, while enroute; the water can also be taken to local areas of Western Port and South Gippsland. It is important to that the pipeline can serve two ways: from upland to lower land and vice versa. Storm and Rain Water Harvesting In bid to increase its water sources, the company also engages in collecting, treating and storing rain and storm water in urban areas. The difference between the two kinds of water is that rain water is normally collected from the roof whilst storm water is collected from urban runoffs. In this regard too, the company has stepped up its education/ trainings to the residents about how they can collect water and treat it before storage and use (Melbourne Water 2014). The North South Pipeline Melbourne city was connected to North South pipeline in the year 2010.This is the pipeline that will be carrying water to the Melbourne’s storage facilities from the Goulboum River. Although not currently operational, it is expected to be only supplying water when the level of water becomes extremely low in other storage facilities, or when local fire fighters are in need of water. In this regard, therefore the company estimates that water from the Eildon Reservoir will be released into River Goulburn where it can be pumped in the pipeline to be sent across the Great Depression Range at a distance of 70 kilometers to the Melbourne city. At the Sugarloaf Reservoir, it will mix with water from the Yarra catchments and Maroondah. Therefore, this means that the pipes will remain full of water even the water is not being pumped up (Melbourne Water 2014). Increasing Capacities of Treatment Plants During the completion of this plant, the company also finished increasing capacities of some treatment plants that have included Winneke Water Treatment Plant, which can now handle the increased water volume and pressure entering Sugarloaf Reservoir. This has involved upgrading tanks, filters and pumps. Moreover the company is also building more pumping stations so that water from Yan Yean, Cardinia and Sugarloaf reservoirs can flow to uplands across Melbourne (Melbourne Water 2014). Management of the Water Supply System Reservoir Maintenance There are two types of reservoirs: on-stream reservoirs and off-stream reservoirs. On reservoirs have been built to be fed by water from catchments. Off-stream reservoirs are those reservoirs built to receive water from other sources like from the North- South Pipeline (VU, College of Arts 2013). The company has connected the reservoirs so that water can be moved around easily, through the water supply system, depending on factors such as increased rainfall or demand. Water Treatment In this regard in order to ensure that safe water reaches the residents of Melbourne, from catchment areas to the tap, the company is committed to ensure that water protect everybody in Melbourne by treating to make it safe for drinking before it is supplied. Firstly, the company has ensured that water flows from the already protected catchment areas. However for extra caution, the water must be disinfected while leaving the reservoirs to make sure that is ready to drink Dowling, D, Carew, A, & Hadgraft, R (2013).The company operates Tarago and Winneke Water treatment plants as some of the biggest in the country; these are mainly used to treat water from unprotected catchments. However, there are several others that treat water from protected catchments using fluoridation, disinfection, and pH processes; they include Cardinia, Greenvale, Silvan, Tarago, Winneke, Yan Yean among others. Recycling Water To reduce water shortage, the company has put up Western and Eastern treatment plants. It uses highly specialized processes of dirty water storage that are very much unique from each other for the two plants. It is important to note that recycled water is not used for drinking, although it is normally treated to the standards of EPA and other authorities. The recycled water can be used in flushing toilets, watering gardens, and watering open spaces and streetscapes. Protecting Rivers and Other Waterways Since wetlands, estuaries and rivers are central to daily activities of human being, it is important that the company play a care taker role of the waterways. Therefore it has been mandated by the community to protect and improve them on its behalf. It is considered that a healthy river will support communities around it, wildlife included. In its management of the waterways, the company has been collecting meaningful statistics, analyzing them and providing the way forward to maintain a healthy river (Melbourne Water 2014). Other Roles of the Melbourne Water Company Apart from supplying water and managing its waterways and reservoirs, the company engages in other crucial roles such as sewage treatment, managing floods and ensuring meaningful liveability and environment. Although they can be rergaded as usually not primary roles of the company, they have been seen to be affecting the supply of safe water that can protect human health. In this regard, the company has two treatment plants and nine pumping stations Victoria State Government, (2011).Each year it treats over 320,000 million liters of all sewage types. In this regard it enables sewage to be transferred from neighborhoods to the treatment sites. Although floods are natural, the company has been apt to minimize its effect on places, communities and people. Therefore, it has ensured that there are proper drainage systems that can safely carry water away from neighborhoods. On liveability and environment, the company is working with other stakeholders in the society to ensure that the general challenges due to the climate changes and population growths are met so that to make Melbourne the best place to live in. In this regard, Melbourne Water is seeking more holistic approach in diversifying water sources to secure water against floods and droughts (Melbourne Water 2014). List of References Dowling, D, Carew, A, & Hadgraft, R 2013, Engineering Your Future: an Australasian Guide, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton, Australia. Melbourne Water, 2014, what we do, viewed 6 April 2014, Victoria State Government, 2011, A Governance Guide to the Victorian Water Industry, Melbourne: Victoria Government. Viggers, J, Weaver, H and Lindenmayer, D 2014, Melbourne's water catchments perspectives on a world-class water supply, CSIRO Publishing, viewed 6 April 2014 http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/7111.htm VU, College of Arts 2013, Handbook of communication skills for first year students in the College of Engineering and Science, 10th edn., Victoria University, Melbourne Yarra Valley Water, 2014, History of Melbourne's water supply, viewed 6 April 2014 http://www.yvw.com.au/Home/Waterandsewerage/Waterqualityandsupply/HistoryofMel bourneswatersupply/index.htm Read More