Feasibility and scoping studies for Khancoban treatment plants
Published on 03 August 2020
Snowy Valleys Council will undertake feasibility and scoping studies looking at the upgrade or replacement of the Khancoban water supply headworks infrastructure and the Khancoban wastewater treatment plant thanks to funding from the Restart NSW Safe and Secure Water Program.
Council’s Executive Director Infrastructure Heinz Kausche said the scoping studies will provide important information on possible upgrades to modernise and renew the aging infrastructure and plant.
“Both plants are aging and require upgrades to better meet standards and regulatory requirements,” he said.
“A new modern wastewater treatment plant would improve treatment capacity to handle the population variation between holiday and non-holiday periods, while upgrade or replacement of the water treatment infrastructure would achieve reliable and consistent water quality in Khancoban.
“A key outcome of the studies is the assessment of the various options available to upgrade or replace the treatment infrastructure, along with preliminary cost estimates,” said Mr Kausche.
Khancoban’s water supply scheme was commissioned in the early 1960s as part of the Snowy Hydro Scheme and water is supplied from Khancoban creek to a town reservoir, where it is distributed to customers under gravity flow. The Khancoban wastewater treatment plant was constructed in 1965 and is a trickling filter treatment system.
Council was successful in obtaining funding from the NSW Government of $35,750 for the water treatment study and $55,000 for the wastewater treatment study under the Restart NSW Safe and Secure Water Program (SSWP). Council has matched the funds from its water and wastewater funds.
Mr Kausche says the funding was approved back in December, just prior to the bush fire event and Covid-19 outbreak.
“These events have caused some delays but we are committed to completing the studies and progressing with the outcomes and possible improvements to the level of service we can provide to the Khancoban community,” he said.
Council will engage a specialised consultant to undertake the studies and anticipates they will take approximately six months to complete.
The NSW Government established a $1 billion Safe and Secure Water Program (SSWP) in 2017 to provide safe, secure and sustainable water and wastewater services to regional NSW towns. The program was established under the NSW Government’s Restart NSW fund.
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