The Water Corporation engaged WestWater to design and construct a new Water Treatment Plant (WTP) to solve the following problems at Port Kalbarri Bore Site.
Problems:
- High levels of iron and manganese in the supply had rendered one of the 2 bores inoperable and was causing issues of deposits/build-up in the pipework and elevated tank.
- The chlorination process was unreliable due to the chlorinators having to operate too low on the available hardware range and the pressures at chlorine injection point being too high.
Solutions:
- Install multimedia filtration for iron and manganese removal.
- Change existing chlorine gas system over to an Electro-chlorination system for more accurate dosing and to achieve dosing pre-filter for oxidation and post-filter for disinfection.
- Install a clearwater tank and transfer pump station to reduce backpressure on bores and new downstream process so both bores are operable.
- Upgraded both bore sites to accommodate new reduced pressure requirements.
The project was a full design and construct project with some challenging hydraulic and water quality demands to be accomplished. WestWater took the project from concept design stage all the way through to engineering/detailed design, construction and final commissioning onsite.
Apart from some challenges with supply timing of the client specified GRP Filter Vessel, the project overall was delivered in good time, with limited variations, and the improved water quality results now experienced onsite are pleasing to all.
The region is by all accounts impressed with the quality of the installation and have enjoyed trouble free operation in the 6 months since handover.
WestWater are very confident that the region will see the benefits of replacing existing Gas Chlorination equipment with Electro-chlorination equipment on their other small chlorination sites. We are looking forward to some more work to come in this area in the near future.
