The project is jointly funded by the Australian Government ($5 million) and the Victorian Government through GWMWater ($8.56 million). Australian Government funding is provided through the National Water Grid Fund.
Murray River off-take at Pental Island. Image credit: GWMWater.
Project overview
The project in north west Victoria will invest in new infrastructure to improve non-drinking water quality and reliability for agricultural use. It will also support urban customers and rural households.
The Piangil and Nyah water supply systems are prone to blue-green algae blooms and black water events. These systems receive water from the Murray River and Waranga Western Channel.
These events can severely impact water quality and reliability. At the same time, they can also disrupt water supply to rural farming communities. This impacts agricultural productivity and prevents household water use.
New water treatment infrastructure will ensure these rural farming communities can access a reliable water supply. This is important for the communities’ livelihoods, particularly during poor quality water incidents.
The project involves:
- construction of water treatment facilities at 3 raw-water extraction sites
- construction of pump systems
- construction of chemical dosing systems
- installation of solar and battery storage systems to power the facilities.
The project will:
- Treat nearly 1.8 gigalitres of non-drinking water per year. This will help maintain a reliable water supply during poor quality water incidents.
- Improve the reliability and quality of non-drinking water. This will benefit more than 750 rural farming enterprises as well as urban customers.
- Support increased farm productivity. Enabling more efficient chemical use and providing better quality water for livestock.