Alan Dickens, Brunswick Heads
On 30 July, the Water, Waste & Sewer Advisory Committee will meet. The agenda contains a report from the System Planning Officer (SPO) on the remediation work that has been carried out by a contractor in Mullumbimby on the sewer gravity mains and the stormwater system. The contract was to rectify identified Inflow/Infiltration (I/I) problems.
Mr Duncan Dey, a long-term member of this committee, has stated previously in a letter to The Echo that the worst identified areas in Mullumbimby would be fixed first.
The SPO has included in this report that the high-risk areas, in Mullumbimby, upstream of catchment area 4001, have been addressed and apart from some maintenance holes, which are yet to be lined, the work is complete.
The data available on Water and Recycling’s website showing the flows into Brunswick Valley Waste Water Treatment Plant (BVWWTP) would seem to contradict the SPO’s report going to the committee.
The inflow figures showed into BVWWTP are: 23 July – 1,351.82 kilolitres (kls); 24 July – 2,527.84 kls; 25 July – 5,295.65 kls; and 26 July 12,007.97 kls.
One of the contractor’s employees was asked by a Mullumbimby resident how would they know if the relining had been successful? The employee answered, ‘We won’t until it rains’.
These figures seem to indicate the relining of the mains has had no impact on the I/I problem at all because if it had then the inflow figures into the BVWWTP would be in the order of 1,300 kls.
It should be a major concern to this community exactly how much money has been spent on this I/I problem over the last thirty years and continues to be spent, for what?
Love your work Alan.
Don Chipp of the Shire Award. I can see a brilliant council if you, John Lazarus and Cate Coorey all stand and are elected. Reputable experts in every field covered.