The quality of water in the Gin Gin area has been substantially improved thanks to an upgrade of pump systems at the Gin Gin Water Treatment Plant.
Bundaberg Regional Council's water and wastewater portfolio spokesman Cr Jason Bartels said the two-year project was now complete, providing residents with better quality water due to new innovative processes.
“The Gin Gin Water Treatment Plant produces 100 per cent of the treated water requirements for the Gin Gin community, which services about 556 connections,” Cr Bartels said.
“With less chemicals added we are providing a better quality of water for the residents of the Gin Gin community.”
The upgrade features powder activated carbon treatment, which ultimately fine-tuned the taste and odour of water, according to Bundaberg Regional Council's Treatment and Reticulation officer Karl Zimmerlie.
“We have also upgraded the Gin Gin creek inlet structure, we’ve now got three laterals that run down in the bottom of the creek bed in Gin Gin Creek,” he said.
“That allows us to take water nearly 80 per cent of the year.”
Innovation drives Gin Gin Water Treatment Plant upgrade
Mr Zimmerlie said the upgrade was a fine example of innovation within the water industry.
“The main thing that was really innovative for us was the laterals in the creek bed; we can now easily backwash them to get rid of any iron bacteria that builds up in the pipes,” he said.
“As part of the process, an air blast is issued and then we can backwash to get rid of all the growth on our lateral pipes.”
“The second innovation was the control of our PAC inlet structure which works in a way where we can pull water straight out of the creek as well as from a sub water channel.
“This is highly beneficial in times of flooding, when we can't get to the creek.”
