Water projects take a high priority

A string of water infrastructure projects are set to be rolled out in the coming year.

While some will add to Orange’s water sources, others are aimed at creating a more water efficient system for managing water.

The project list includes plans to:

• Build a new pipeline from Spring Creek Dam to the water treatment plant in Icely Road. ($4.5 million) Currently water from Spring Creek dam has to flow along an open creek bed to Suma Park dam before being pumped to the water treatment plant
• An upgrade to Gosling Creek dam $900K
• Buy land alongside the water treatment plant and improve site security ($1.15 million)
• Buy equipment to circulate water stored in reservoirs around Orange ($200K over two years)
• Trial to introduction of ‘smart’ water meters ($150K) Smart water meters are designed to give both water users and council better instant feed-back about water consumption. The trial would see the installation of a limited number of smart meters on a selection of water users.

Orange City Council also is also proposing to spend $5.27 million in the coming year on improvements to the city sewer system.

• The key projects include :
  $3 milliion to upgrade the inlet system at the Sewage Treatment Plant
• $800K on upgrade to the sewer system at Spring Hill and Lucknow
• $700K on re-lining sewer pipes