Overview of water system
Muswellbrook and Denman’s water supply is drawn from the Hunter River, and Sandy Hollow’s is drawn from bores situated on the bank of the Goulburn River. Each town’s treatment plant process is slightly different, although they generally follow the treatment process depicted in this diagram.
Muswellbrook water treatment plant
At Muswellbrook Water Treatment Plant, river water is pumped to a clarifier where lime and ferric sulphate are added to reduce hardness. The water treatment plant is semi-automatic and will shutdown if the turbidity of the raw water rises above set limits. The clarified water then goes to the recarbonation chamber where the pH of the water is adjusted to about 8.0.
The water then passes through three rapid sand filters. Sodium hypochlorite is added to the water, and finally fluoride. From here the treated water is pumped to the reservoirs which supply the town with water by gravity mains. In areas of higher elevation in Muswellbrook, booster pumping stations are used to supply sufficient water pressure. High elevation areas in south Muswellbrook are supplied from Acacia reservoir.
Denman water treatment plant
Denman’s Water Treatment Plant was officially commissioned in April 2008, the culmination of a three stage construction process to provide high quality water to the residents of Denman. In the treatment process, river water is pumped though six sand filters before entering a micro-filtration plant.
Filtered water is softened using an ion-exchange system. Finally it is chlorinated and sent to the 5ML reservoir where gravity supplies consumers in town. Because of the height of the reservoir above Denman, pressure reducing valves are utilised to provide a more uniform water pressure across town.
Sandy Hollow water treatment facility
At Sandy Hollow Water Treatment facility, water is pumped from bores on the Goulburn River and recycled through an ozone treatment. This precipitates dissolved solids such as iron and manganese, which although not harmful to health, may cause staining in washing etc. This allows these solids to be captured by the filtration system. After filtration the water is chlorinated. This treated water is then pumped into reservoirs; from here it gravitates to consumers in town.
This page last updated 16 February, 2012 12:10 PM
