Victorian pressure sewerage project recognised

South East Water and its ‘us’ - Utility Services Alliance has received international recognition for its Flinders and Shoreham Pressure Sewerage project.

The project was presented with the International Water Association’s Project Innovation Award in the small projects category at the Asia Pacific Regional awards, held in Singapore this week.

The $33 million project provided a pressure sewerage system to the townships of Flinders and Shoreham on the Mornington Peninsula.

“This project was supported, by strong community feedback, as the most sustainable solution,” South East Water Managing Director Shaun Cox said.

“This project has had a high success rate with the majority of customers in the townships voluntarily choosing to connect early to the scheme.”

Over 80% of eligible residents in Flinders and Shoreham connected to the scheme, and environmental monitoring has already shown improvements in the water quality in Stoney Creek and Dodds Creek.

Innovative solutions were developed to deal with implementing a lengthy transfer system over undulating ground. Dynamic hydraulic modelling was used for rapid design and optimisation of the sewerage network.

The project included an integral telemetry-linked control system and capability to engage on-site emergency storage via pressure sensing and an integrated system with residential tanks to be used as 24-hour emergency storage to remove the need for emergency storage at transfer pump stations.

The International Water Association Award specifically recognised:

• the project’s use of innovative solutions to overcome uneven ground and a lengthy transfer system;
• the use of horizontal directional drilling to minimise environmental impact;
• providing customers with the opportunity to choose a preferred connection time; and
• the project’s use of trenchless technology to reduce the disturbance to customers and the community.

“This is an example of South East Water’s committed to finding innovation solutions that better service our customers and their communities.

The project was developed in partnership between South East Water’s ‘us’ - Utility Services Alliance with National Oilwell Varco and Montgomery Watson Harza to deliver next-generational pressure sewerage technology and ‘Eco-160 Pressure Sewer Pump’. ‘us’ - Utility Services is an alliance between South East Water, Thiess Services and Siemens. “The project team worked to solve numerous engineering challenges in an environmentally sensitive area,” Utility Services General Manager Kevin Hutchings said.

This project also received an Infrastructure Project Innovation Commendation at last year’s Victorian Australian Water Authority awards.