32 | New plant for growing community The new Kinloch Water Treatment Plant, which is expected to be commissioned mid-2024, will service the growing Kinloch community and replace the existing plant. Taupo District Council: Kinloch Water Treatment Plant T T Richard Loader With members of Taupō District Council (TDC) and representatives from the lead contractors in attendance in March this year, a blessing on the site where Kinloch’s Water Treatment Plant will be constructed was led by local hapu, Ngati Te Kohera, ensuring the safety and success of the project. The new plant, which is expected to be commissioned mid-2024, will service the growing Kinloch community and replace the existing plant. When commissioned, the $8.5 million plant will produce 3500 cubic metres of water per day, but has been designed with the capacity to increase production to 5000 cubic metres per day, as the Kinloch population grows. Funding for the project was provided for under TDC’s Long Term Plan. “You only have to go back fifteen or twenty years, and Kinloch was a small lake settlement with a few holiday baches,” says TDC Project Manager Elijah May. “Now it’s a rapidly growing community of permanent residents, with a lot of residential building under way. “Kinloch will only keep growing so the new plant is intended to meet that demand now and future-proof capacity requirements for the entire Kinloch structure plan area. Building resilience into the system was another key requirement.” Marshall Projects and Pall New Zealand have been jointly contracted to complete the design and build project. Frequently undertaking complex projects in partnership with each other, the two companies were selected because of their experience in similar projects, and had been heavily involved in Taupo’s Water Treatment Plant project. “Marshall Projects will do all of the heavy construction work, including pouring foundations, driving piles, building walls, and installing process equipment while Pall are the technology supplier for the filtration system with scope including fabrication of the membrane racks, automation system and support with commissioning. “All geotechnical and design work will be completed by Marshall Projects and Pall, and “The main challenge we have for this project is the ground condition.” TDC has commissioned consulting company WSP New Zealand and water and wastewater specialists Lutra to conduct peer reviews of the work.” “The main challenge we have for this project is the ground condition,” says Elijah. “Being in the Central Plateau we are building on pumice so the Geotech work plays a key role in the project, ensuring that this treatment plant would survive a significant seismic event. So, it’s not just about building a robust plant, but also ensuring we get a solid footing for the foundation piles.” While still in the early days of the project, key components for the plant have already been ordered and are now enroute from Switzerland. “We always try to buy local, but some of the components required for this plant are highly specialised and not available locally in New Zealand. Some of the major components are the membrane filtration racks. The water is filtered through these big stacks of membranes, and as long as you build in capacity to plug in additional racks, adding additional capacity to meet increased demand is relatively efficient and time and cost effective.” Elijah observes that while COVID related procurement and supply chain issues have been a significant concern over the last couple of years, a corner seems to have been turned and there are not expected to be a significant supply issues impacting on the timeline on this project. Putting over 20 years of experience to work for your benefit Experienced and Trustworthy Underground Service Installation HIGH END MACHINERY HIGHLY TRAINED TEAM 20 YEARS + EXPERIENCE EXCELLENT H&S PROTOCOLS Proudly Supporting Taupo District Council REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=