Victorian Desalination Plant Victorian Desalination Plant

The Victorian Desalination Plant is a water desalination plant located on the Bass Coast in southern Victoria.

THE VICTORIAN DESALINATION PROJECT PROVIDES A DROUGHT-PROOF WATER SUPPLY TO MELBOURNE AND GEELONG.

As a rainfall-independent source of water it complements our existing catchments. With key components of the plant having a design life of 100 years it can produce high quality water whenever required, making it a resource that will be valued in times of future drought.

THE DESALINATION PLANT

Located in Wonthaggi, the VDP comprises:

The desalination plant - comprising 29 buildings including the reverse osmosis building, the heart of the VDP - with a production capacity of 150 billion litres of water a year, flexible water ordering of between 0 and 150 billion litres, and the capability to expand to 200 billion litres a year

Marine structures: two underground tunnels located 15 metres below the seabed measuring 1.2 km and 1.5 km long and each with a 4 metre internal diameter, and associated marine intake and outlet structures located more than 20 metres below the sea's surface

Water transfer pipeline: 84 km, 1.9 metre diameter, two-way pipeline that provides desalinated water or catchment supplies to communities throughout Melbourne, South Gippsland and Westernport, as required;

OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE

Introducing Watersure

Watersure is responsible for the operations and maintenance of the Victorian Desalination Project through to September 2039 under contract to AquaSure.

A team of 52 people staff the plant to ensure that the plant is capable of supplying up to 150 billion litres of high quality drinking water annually to Melbourne, Geelong and local regional communities if required. When not producing water, a comprehensive maintenance program guarantees the plant is available to produce water when the need arises.

All living locally, the highly experienced and skilled workforce is made up of a number of distinct teams:

Shift operators - teams of two operators and a coordinator are rostered on 24 hours a day 7 days a week to ensure that all aspects of operations are continuously monitored.

A day shift team that is responsible for daily operations and maintenance across site and the pipeline
Mechanical and Electrical & Instrumentation technicians manage maintenance across the plant and pipeline
A process team ensures the production of very high quality water according to contractual standards
Stores, HR, Finance, Administration, Planned Maintenance Scheduling and other tasks that ensure the plant is operated and maintained at the highest standards are carried out by the rest of the staff.

What Watersure does:

The operations and maintenance contract extends until September 2039. During this period Watersure will:

Operate and maintain the plant, seawater tunnels, pipeline, and ecological reserve
Continuously up skill our workforce
Maintain best practice standards across our operations
Liaise with community members
Support science focussed educational opportunities in the local community through a scholarship program, work experience programs and provide support where applicable to local organisations and
Ensure community access to 225 Ha ecological reserve
Who are our parents?

Watersure brings together the skills and expertise of SUEZ in the design and operation of water treatment facilities and the experience of Ventia in the delivery of water services.

SUEZ

SUEZ makes the best use of water and waste by providing smart and reliable resource management solutions for towns, cities, business and industry.

Our local team provides solutions that supply seven million Australians with safe drinking water, divert 880,000 tonnes of waste from landfill every year, and enable the oil and gas sector to process resources in a sustainable and efficient way.

Ventia

Formerly Thiess Services, Ventia is one of the largest services companies in Australia. Its water capabilitieis span the full water cycle from supply catchments and waterways to distribution. Ventia operate and maintain desalination, potable water treatment, sewage treatment and recycle plants, and associated water and sewer networks.

PIPELINE & POWERLINE

Desalinated water from the plant at Wonthaggi is piped to Melbourne via an 84 kilometre underground pipeline. The pipe is made up of more than 6200 lengths of pipe with each pipe 1.93 metres in diameter, 13.5 metres long and weighing around 13 tonnes. The pipeline is capable of transporting up to 200 billion litres of water a year and connects into the existing water supply network at Berwick.

Seven water delivery points along the pipeline connect local communities to the desalinated water supply while a booster pump station at Cardinia helps maintain enough pressure to keep the water moving on its journey from the desalination plant to Cardinia Reservoir. The pipeline is two-way so it also connects some regional areas to Melbourne's catchment supplies when desalinated water is not being used.

An underground 220kV High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) power cable which is the longest of its type in the world is co-located with the pipeline to power the plant (all operational power is offset by Renewable Energy Certificates). Constructed as part of the project, the power line is now operated and maintained by SP Ausnet on behalf of the State.

Underground power was the preferred solution for the project as it has the least impact on landowners and people living and working in the area.

Fibre optic cables have been laid alongside the power cables and on the pipeline to allow communication of important monitoring information on the pipe and power networks. Additional capacity on this high-speed communications cable is available to facilitate improved broadband capability to surrounding communities subject to further development by state and federal departments responsible for telecommunications and infrastructure development.

❊ Address ❊

 ⊜  Lower Powlett Rd,  Wonthaggi 3995 View Map
 ✆ Telephone: 1800 811 214

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❊ Web Links ❊

➼ Victorian Desalination Plant 

➼ www.watersure.com.au

➼ www.southeastwater.com.au

➼ www.melbournewater.com.au

➼ www.yvw.com.au

➼ www.citywestwater.com.au






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