New reports recommend sewerage, water upgrading

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THE Toowoomba Regional Council has laid out the water and sewerage needs for the city’s western suburbs and towns over the next 40 years.

The greater Glenvale sewerage catchment report and the Pittsworth water supply study, drafted by engineers in the water and waste department, were presented to the councillors earlier this month.

Both reports mapped and predicted short and long-term needs and issues associated with infrastructure in both areas until 2056.

The GGSC report estimated that wastewater usage in the greater Glenvale area was expected to double to more than eight megalitres a day by 2056, catering for 52,000 residents.

The report recommended decommissioning certain sewage pumping stations in certain areas, while other stations were built to open up more land for development.

The Pittsworth water study, completed by network planning engineers Paul Quinlan and Megan Richardson, predicted water usage in Pittsworth, Brookstead and Southbrook to double within 40 years, and that augmentations should be made to the system to cope with population growth.

These included upgrading water mains in Brookstead, reducing pressure for Southbrook and investigating a new water source to meet demand if one of the three bores was to go offline.

The report put upgrade costs at up to $479,000, depending on the scenario.