9 February 2010
WEIR UPGRADE TO PROVIDE MORE WATER
An upgrade of the Coranderrk Weir in Healesville will help Melbourne Water capture more water during major storms and store it in the Silvan Reservoir.
In the past, water supply operators had to visit the weir every day to manually adjust penstocks, which control the balance between water diverted into Silvan Reservoir and environmental flows down Badger Creek.
The penstocks have now been automated and linked to a water level sensor - meaning water harvesting will be maximised instantaneously during heavy rain and automatically diverted to the reservoir.
General Manager of Asset Planning, Paul Pretto, said technological improvements like this are designed to strengthen our system in the face of more extreme weather events and would enable us to capture more water for Melbourne.
“We estimate the new automated system could harvest up to 1 billion litres of extra drinking water every year, depending on rainfall,” Dr Pretto said.
“Yarra Ranges households use about 6.5 billion litres of water a year, so the upgrade could save the equivalent of 15% of the area’s annual residential consumption.
”The new system means more water flowing from the weir down Badger Creek into the Yarra River during a heavy downpour would be harvested.”
Dr Pretto said this type of automation would also improve the efficiency of meeting environmental flow requirements in Badger Creek, which are a critical part of looking after the ecosystems that look after us.
The infrastructure upgrades were undertaken by the Water Supply Alliance – a partnership between Melbourne Water, Baulderstone, United Group, and SKM.
This upgrade follows the construction of a mini-hydro electricity plant at the Silvan Reservoir last year to produce renewable energy.
It is one of six mini-hydro electricity plants that have been built by Melbourne Water to produce enough clean, green energy to power the equivalent of about 5000 homes.
Silvan Reservoir is a central part of Melbourne’s water supply network. It receives water from the Thomson and Upper Yarra reservoirs, as well as from Coranderrk Weir, for distribution to most of Melbourne.
Media Contact: Gavin Rainsford - 03 9235 1587 M - 0400 690 502