Saving water in pipeline

Coalition says project could fill 20 Olympic pools a day

A PROJECT to build a pipeline to pump recycled water from Connewarre to Colac via Anglesea and Torquay – and save up to the equivalent of 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools daily – would be investigated under a state opposition election promise.

Polwarth MP Richard Riordan, who would represent Torquay and other Surf Coast communities if re-elected , said 50 megalitres of highquality recycled water was pumped into Bass Strait from the Black Rock Water Reclamation Plant at Connewarre each day.

That amount of water would fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to numbers from the Bureau of Meteorology.

Mr Riordan said the work, dubbed the Victorian Lakes Pipeline Project, was part of the Coalition’s commitment to invest 25 per cent of state infrastructure funding in regional Victoria.

Mr Riordan said under the planned project:

RECYCLED and fresh water from Connewarre would be pumped to Anglesea, where it would be used to improve the quality of the Anglesea River, which had “high levels of acidity and metal salts”; and, WATER would be piped to Lake Modewarre, which is currently below historical levels caused by a restriction of its catchment from the Wurdee Boluc reservoir.

From Modewarre, the pipeline would run to Lake Colac, Victoria’s largest natural freshwater lake, where the water would be used to ensure healthy water levels, Mr Riordan said.

He said the feasibility study, which would include a community engagement process, would assess the benefits against the construction and operational costs of the pipeline to understand the net benefit.

“The project would create substantial environmental, economic, and social benefits for the Surf Coast and Colac regions,” he said.

“One of the objectives of the project would be to mitigate the effect of an increase in storm water runoff from urban development in Torquay, which is threatening the natural character of the Karaaf Wetlands.

“(It would also) would facilitate better management of freshwater runoff in Torquay and flows to the Karaaf Wetlands and enable surplus water to be redirected to areas where it would have a positive impact.”