Grant Council moves to spend fund allocated to fixing Port Mac CWMS on council-wide review

It’s only midway through its life expectancy but a problem plagued seaside sewerage system is struggling under the demands of the local fishing industry.

Port MacDonnell’s sewerage system is struggling under storm water pressure and the impact of the local fishing industry, but it will be months before a resolution is found.

A project to fix numerous issues has been considerably delayed according to a report tabled a Monday night’s Grant Council meeting – and instead of action it will spend the allocated funds to undertake a council-wide review of Community Wastewater Management Schemes (CWMS).

Director of environmental services Leith McEvoy said the project had expanded over recent weeks and would now be a “full, in-depth review” of the capacity of all six systems.

Grant Council will undertake a review of all Community Wastewater Management Schemes. Picture: iStock

“It’s a challenging project and an important one,” Mr McEvoy said at the meeting.

“We’re trying to cover every possible avenue, all of our CWMS, but also trying to deal with our biosolids disposal, desludge bags and the best solution to moving forward without the use of those bags.”

Mr McEvoy said it would take into consideration previous reports, most of which related to the Port MacDonnell system which was commissioned in 1996 and at the midpoint of its expected 50-year life span.

“Port MacDonnell is the one which is proving to be most challenging,” he said.

The report said it was “currently operating over its original design and capacity” with some sections functioning well with minimal attention.

“Other parts of the system periodically experience storm water ingress pressures and high saline discharges from the local fishing industry,” it reads.

“These challenges have resulted in pump failure, emergency actions to manage loadings across the network, and regular communication with customers.”

Mr McEvoy said it was also timely to review the remaining five CWMS at Tarpeena, commissioned in 1987, Allendale East, 2005, Pelican Point, 2006, Cape Douglas, 2009 and Donovans, 2013.

A plan for the Port MacDonnell system will be drafted and costed to accommodate future growth of the township, including the fishing industry, while investigating potential alternatives for biosolid disposal for the CWMS septic tank pump-out program.

The approach will look at reducing pressures on network maintenance, future development in each township and aim to provide direction to fishers in regards to wastewater discharges.

Councillor Gavin Clarke asked for clarification on how the review would be funded.

Mr McEvoy said a final figure had not been decided for the larger project the but would be under the $134,000 allocated in the 2020/21 Budget.

“The original money was a capital works, this report review is a capital works project in terms of it’s going to lead us in the right direction to under taking these works,” he said.

“It is a sizeable project, it certainly won’t be all of that amount of money.

“It will be a reasonable amount of that.”

The funding was originally allocated to redevelop bunded area to hold the desludge bags at the Port MacDonnell Waste Transfer Station, but following an incident several years ago with the bags, they no longer at the site.

The investigation has already begun and is expected to be completed by November.