Utilising trenchless technology, Coliban Water has wrapped up its largest program of ‘hidden’ water and sewer main renewals.
Serving over 175,000 customers across central and northern Victoria, Coliban Water manages over $2 billion in assets.
While the utility is currently undertaking a five-year program of time critical, large-scale infrastructure projects, it has also just completed its largest program of ‘hidden assets’ for the region.
Across the 2023/2024 financial year, the utility invested approximately $8.5 million across the region.
Coliban Water chief officer assets and operations Danny McLean said the program consisted of 16.8km of water main renewals and 25km of sewer main renewals.
“Most of us don’t think about the infrastructure required to deliver water to our taps or carry our used water away from our homes,” McLean said.
“But these ‘hidden assets’ have been the focus of a large-scale renewal program.”
McLean said Coliban Water’s crews renewed water mains at 61 sites across central Victoria, including Bealiba where 970m of mains were replaced, and Specimen Gully Road in Castlemaine where 1.3km of mains were replaced.
“When renewing water mains, we consider the age of the pipe, whether it’s had any leaks, and what the pipe is made of,” McLean said.
“These considerations help us prioritise and build an ongoing schedule of replacements.”
The utility had also introduced several new innovations to ensure the work completed was sustainable, with work at the Specimen Gully Road project using 100 per cent recycled drill water.
“Our delivery partner, R&R McClure, employed leading-edge technology to reuse the drill water circulated between specialist rock drills, saving almost 50,000 litres of water, roughly equivalent to the daily water consumption of 240 customers,” he said.
“The team also reused sand at the site, with approximately 20 cubic metres of sand extracted during works able to be reused around the pipes during reinstatement.”
McLean said over the past financial year, 396 sewer mains were also renewed, with a particular focus on Echuca where the age of some of its sewer mains and recent blockages due to silt and debris build-up led to the area being prioritised for attention.
“We’ve completed 6.4km of sewer main renewals in Echuca, with several relined and cleared out so they operate more efficiently,” he said.
“In Bendigo, sewer main replacement works around Rosalind Park found some sewers were up to 80 per cent blocked.”
Now, Coliban Water will continue its water main renewals at 31 locations, including Bendigo, Boort, Cohuna, Echuca, Kyneton and Serpentine over the coming months.
$18 million will be invested in renewal works between 1 July and 30 June 2028, McLean said, and Coliban Water will continue to communicate with customers in advance when works are scheduled near them.
“We thank the community for their patience while we complete this vital work to ensure our water and sewerage network can keep pace with demand today,” McLean said, “and in the years to come.
This article featured in the August edition of Trenchless Australasia.
Subscribe to Trenchless Australasia for the latest project and industry news.