The quality and reliability of drinking water for Coliban Water customers in Gunbower is to be substantially improved by a sustainable, leading-edge water treatment process.
Around 260 customers will benefit from magnetic ion exchange (MIEX®) technology installed as part of our $4.1 million upgrade to the Gunbower Water Treatment Plant.
Developed by Australian company Orica and CSIRO, the MIEX® system is an additional pre-treatment process for the raw water supplied from Taylors Creek.
The quality of the raw water can fluctuate throughout the year and in extreme weather events. The new process will make the plant more robust to cope with the changes.
The process involves MIEX® Resin beads which work similarly to a magnet, attracting dissolved matter in the raw water, such as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and other common contaminants.
By removing undesirable matter there is less need for larger doses of chlorine, and the water’s clarity, taste and odour can be improved.
Other benefits include improved efficiencies for parts of the plant further down the treatment process, such as reduced contaminants in the membrane filters and low waste volumes.
There are currently five plants in Australia operating the MIEX® system and Gunbower will be the sixth and the third in Victoria.
General Manager Infrastructure Dr Dharma Dharmabalan said: “We are committed to improving water quality for all our customers.
“The process adopted at Gunbower will be able to cope with fluctuating raw water quality well into the future and will improve the overall efficiency of the plant.
“The upgrade will also give more operational flexibility and address a number of occupational health and safety concerns that have been identified at the site.”
Work on the upgrade commenced in August 2011 and it is planned to be fully operational in April 2012.
Once the upgrade is completed, the Gunbower Water Treatment Plant will be capable of processing around 700,000 litres of water per day.
To view photographs of the upgrade see the slide show below and to visit the Gunbower Water Treatment Plant project page > click here
