Council to rule on pipe tender
TOWNSVILLE’S new water supply pipeline is shaping as a contest between the traditional cement mortar- lined steel pipe and the modern glass reinforced polymer ( GRP) technology.
The issue will be discussed at Townsville City Council’s ordinary council meeting today where the key contract for supply of pipe for the $ 225 million project is due to be decided.
The unconfirmed minutes of a closed council meeting on April 4 show the two short- listed companies vying for the contract are polymer pipe supplier Iplex Pipelines Australia and mild steel cement lined supplier Steel Mains.
The council declined to respond to a question yesterday on its preference for steel or GRP pipe, with a spokesman saying only that the tender would be discussed and an independent technical assessment provided at its full council meeting today.
“The tender for the pipe for the $ 215 million pipeline project will be discussed at ( today’s) full council meeting,” the spokesman said. “An independent technical assessment of all pipe technologies will be presented to councillors at ( today’s) meeting.
“The pipeline is a key part of council’s three- point water security solution and will provide long- term water security for Townsville.”
Water management and the recycling of waste water from sewerage plants are the other two prongs in the council three- point solution.
The interim report of the Townsville Water Security Taskforce last year recommended an 1800mm diameter steel pipeline and additional pumps, providing capacity of 234 megalitres a day, as part of its infrastructure recommendations for the city’s water supply. The 36.5km pipeline is to be installed alongside an existing pipeline between the Haughton Pump Station and Ross River Dam.
The recommendations also called for an increase in capacity by 234ML/ day of the existing SunWater pump station and gravity channel from Clare to Haughton Pump Station, for all levels of government to work towards more appropriate energy solutions, an investment in bulk water meters within Townsville’s reticulation system to detect and reduce water losses and for a non- potable waste water reuse program to supply industrial users and irrigate parks and gardens.