Submission to the State Development, Infrastructure and Industry Committee Inquiry “Queensland Audit Office Report to Parliament 14 for 2012- 13: Maintenance of water infrastructure assets” School of Civil & Environmental Engineering Date: 18 October, 2013. Author: Dr Stuart Khan Address: School of Civil Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales. Phone: (02) 93855070 Email:
[email protected] Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 BACKGROUND 3 INTRODUCTION 4 CURRENT OPERATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE WCRWS 5 PROPOSED OPERATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE WCRWS 7 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED OPERATIONAL STRATEGY 7 ADVANTAGES OF PROPOSED OPERATIONAL STRATEGY 7 IMPROVED AND PROTECTED RAW WATER QUALITY FOR THE MT CROSBY WATER TREATMENT PLANT 7 DIVERSIFICATION OF SOURCE WATER OPTIONS FOR THE MT CROSBY WATER TREATMENT PLANT 9 REDUCED WATER PUMPING REQUIREMENTS 9 AN OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE FLOOD MITIGATION CAPACITY 9 DIRECT POTABLE REUSE (DPR) 11 WHAT IS DIRECT POTABLE REUSE (DPR)? 11 FINDINGS BY THE ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING (ATSE) 12 CONCLUDING COMMENTS 14 REFERENCES 15 Executive Summary This document is presented as a public submission to the State Development, Infrastructure and Industry Committee of the Queensland Parliament Legislative Assembly inquiry into the issued contained in the Queensland Audit Office Report to Parliament 14 for 2012-13: Maintenance of water infrastructure assets. The focus of this submission is the configuration and operation of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme in relation to the operation of Lake Wivenhoe as the major water supply reservoir for South East Queensland. This submission specifically addresses key aspects of the Inquiry Terms of Reference including: “innovative strategies to increase revenue from manufactured water infrastructure assets” and “the future public value of the assets including consideration of the impact on the community, economy and environment”.