Midge Point gets taste of renewed water supply

Mackay Regional Council accelerated capital and operational works to improve the water, with the upgrade beginning in January this year.

Mayor Greg Williamson said the Midge Point water improvement project was a multi-staged project to improve water quality for customers in the Midge Point area.

“Residents had unfortunately been experiencing dirty water since October last year,” Mayor Williamson said.

“This was a result of several factors, but primarily because of high quantities of iron and manganese in the raw water source causing discolouration.

“Even though the water complied with health limits set by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, council recognised that the appearance and amenity of the water did not meet customer expectations,” he said.

The first stage of the project was the construction of a return pipeline from the Midge Point reservoir to the trunk main on Kunapipi Road to prevent short-circuiting of the system.

Next, crews undertook a full scouring of the 32km trunk pipeline from Kelsey Creek to Midge Point Reservoir and scouring of the Midge Point reticulated network. This scouring and flushing ensured any sediment that may have built up in the pipes during the works was cleared out of the system.

The final stage will be the installation of a full water treatment plant at Kelsey Creek.

Preliminary works have commenced with the filters – sourced from council’s Alligator Creek Pump Station site – currently undergoing refurbishment works to restore their condition to as new.

The use of the existing filters provides council with an opportunity to make use of an existing under-utilised asset which will help to ensure that project delivery is timely and efficient.

Construction works at the Kelsey Creek site will commence in the new year and are scheduled to take about eight months for delivery.

Mayor Williamson said since completion of the return pipeline and scouring works, council had not received any complaints of dirty water.

“Our water network teams are on standby to address any issues should they be raised,” he said.