How Does Melbourne Water Play a Role in Addressing the Growing Water Supply Needs - Case Study Example

CASE STUDY By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date How Melbourne Water Play a Role in Addressing the Growing Water Supply Needs of a Rapidly Developing City Such As Melbourne Abstract Melbourne Water is run by the Victorian Government and is tasked with treating and supplying recycled and drinking water, managing water supply catchments, treating and removing the most of sewage in Melbourne, as well as managing major drainage systems and waterways in the Westernport and Port Phillip region. Melbourne Water is facing a number of challenges such as climate change, population growth and increasing costs that have led to a substantial change in the company’s strategy. The company has turned out to be more and more cost and customer focused by implementing new business model that concentrates on persistently improving its business efficiency and customers’ experience. Melbourne Water objective is to offer valuable services to Melbournians by providing reliable, safe and high-quality drinking water. To improve water supply, the company is maintaining natural and built assets efficiently through incorporation of whole-of-life and innovative system approaches. The case study examines the role played by Melbourne Water in addressing the growing water supply needs of a rapidly developing city such as Melbourne. Introduction Melbourne has a population of more than 4 million people, and the Southeast Australia Millennium Drought according to [1, p. 315] compelled water companies to look for innovative ways of decreasing water demand as well as increasing water supply. During that period, industrial and residential water demand was reduced through restrictions, conservation programs as well as emergency reductions. Besides that, the surface water was replaced by recycled water so as to support Werribee Irrigation District agricultural activities. Some years after the end of Millennium Drought, water conservation gains seem to be holding steadily, but there is a decline in recycled water used for purposes of irrigation. The draught according to [1, p. 316] offered Melbourne Water to an opportunity to create a water management integrated approach. Some of the forged innovations such as use of storm water and distributed harvesting have sustained the increasing water demands. Melbourne’s Water Supply The supply of water in Melbourne as mentioned by [1, p. 316] is a multifaceted interconnected system that has more than 40 service reservoirs, 10 storage reservoirs having a total capacity of 1,812 GL, catchments (160,000 hectares), in addition to a transfer system having hundreds of miles of aqueducts, tunnels and pipelines. Melbourne Water biggest reservoir is known as the Thomson Reservoir constructed after the 1982–1983 drought. Traditionally, catchment water has been a cheap water source for Melbourne because of the insignificant need for treatment or transfer pumping, but because it is climate dependent it has become extremely variable in quantity. Besides that, the amount of groundwater used in Melbourne is little since the groundwater offer nearly 30 GL annually and is mostly utilised for irrigation. In 2010, Melbournians consumed 356 GL of potable water, 10 GL of rainwater harvesting and stormwater as well as 21GL of recycled water [1, p. 316]. The water supply system in Melbourne is over 14900 miles of water mains with a 9 per cent annual leakage level, which is the lowest by international standards. Melbourne Water is collaborating with its customers with the goal of delivering the vision of Victorian Government of a water system that is resilient, integrated and smart for a productive, sustainable and liveable Melbourne [2, p. 26]. In the city, Melbourne Water is considered the main wholesaler that sells water to water retailers, specifically City West Water, South East Water, and Yarra Valley Water [3, p. 14]. The figure below shows some of Melbourne Water reservoirs and supply system that were taken during the site visit. Statistically, the population of Melbourne is projected to increase to approximately 4.5 million by 2020, and that climate change could result in further reductions in rainfall as well as runoff to reservoirs [4, p. 7]. Despite the increasing cost of water, consumption is still high; therefore, Melbourne Water has come up with a number of strategies so as address the increasing demand for water supply. One of the strategies is creating additional water supplies by means of engineering works in some regions such as the northern Victorian irrigation areas as well as construction of desalination plants [5, p. 2]. Strategies to Address the Growing Needs For Water Supply Melbourne Water is working together with its stakeholders as well as customers so as to deliver water efficiency from the entire water cycle. The company is currently managing water cycle holistically so as to improve the water supply system resilience to climate change and also to increase the available water for environmental flows. Besides that, Melbourne is working with other companies such as the Southern Rural Water, City West Water, the Water Infrastructure Group as well as South East Water in order to offer Melbournians recycled water from the plants that treat wastewater treatment. The company is also encouraging increased utilisation of recycled water beyond irrigation; for instance, through the residential dual-pipe schemes, the recycled water can be used for laundry and toilet flushing. Moreover, management of water quality as well as supply reliability was boosted by the completion of Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) Tertiary Upgrade project; wherein Topaq Pty Ltd begun receiving Class A recycled water from Melbourne Water. Besides that, Melbourne Water is working closely with Melbournians to further progress the opportunities of recycled water from ETP. Additionally, the Western Treatment Plant was also upgraded in 2014 so as to comply with guidelines for validating the water treatment systems as required by Victorian Department of Health. According to [2, p. 29], the upgrade enabled the plant operates within the new regulatory requirements in supporting the on-going recycled water supply to customers such as City West Water and Southern Rural Water. Another technique used by Melbourne Water to meet the increasing needs for water supply is limiting system losses by ensuring leaks are repaired. Besides that, the company reviews the rate of water loss and leakage from its water supply system annually. Between 2013 and 2014, Melbourne Water recorded a 1.61per cent water transfer losses, which is more than the key performance indicator target of below 1 per cent. This was attributed mainly by issues of water quality at the Tarago Treatment Plant that needed a lot of water so as to address the Tyabb Service Reservoir leakage. The company’s water supply system is optimised during the wetter conditions so that the Upper Yarra Aqueduct’s cheap water can be used instead of that from Winneke Treatment Plant. Melbourne Water has focussed its efforts in saving substantial amount of water through operational changes such as reducing the cleaning requirements that needs a lot of water. Furthermore, the company is reducing water loss in through different means such as: improved flow measuring as well as aqueduct lining technologies; cathodic protection of pipelines and tanks; a steadfast in-house crew for pipe repair; salt trials and validation of flow meter as well as other management activities that result in reduction of water loss [2, p. 11]. To further meet the increasing water supply needs, the Melbourne Water has decided to invest in extra water sources so as to diversify and boost Melbourne’s water supplies. Moreover, the company has involved itself in a number of projects that improve Melbourne’s water supply such as the Victorian Desalination Project, that currently supply almost 150 GL annually. Melbourne Water protects the environment and resource so as to ensure continuous supply of water to Melbournians in the future. This is achieved by ensuring they reduce environmental impacts and meet the environmental obligations; improve the value of natural assets; responding to variability and climate change by means of mitigation measures; and ensuring that the natural resources are utilised efficiently. Furthermore, Melbourne Water is dedicated to improve the value from the natural assets and sustainably utilising the natural resources. Through the company’s Environmental Stewardship Strategy the company has come up with projects that intend to achieve meet the increasing demand for water as well as enhance the future generations’ liveability. The company is upgrading some of its reservoirs such as the Greenvale Reservoir dam so as to secure water supply as well as maintain public safety. Conclusion In conclusion, the case study has examined the role played by Melbourne Water in addressing the growing water supply needs of a rapidly developing city such as Melbourne. Basically, Melbourne water as mentioned in the essay is looking for innovative ways to make sure that the natural assets are utilised to their maximum potential and also that can help meet the increasing demand for water supplies. The company has built a strong relationship with Melbournians, suppliers and with the goal of promoting a sustainable Melbourne. To meet the increasing demand for water, Melbourne Water has come up with a number of strategies such as increasing the supply of recycled water to residential units, upgrading the existing reservoirs to the required standards, reducing leaks and water losses, and protecting the natural resources. In recommendation, Melbourne Water should formulate a framework for prioritising and optimising its different water management options. References x [1] Kathleen G. Low et al., "Fighting drought with innovation: Melbourne’s response to the Millennium Drought in Southeast Australia," WIREs Water, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 315–328 , July/August 2015. [2] Melbourne Water, "Enhancing Life and Liveability," Melbourne Water, Melbourne, Annual Report 2015. [3] Kein Gan and Michael Redhead, "Melbourne Residential Water Use Studies," Smart Water Fund, Melbourne, Working paper 2013. [4] Neil Rankine, "Supply and Demand Analysis: Melbourne’s Water," Monash University, Melbourne, Research Paper 2008. [5] Alan Moran, "Water Supply Options for Melbourne: An examination of costs and availabilities of new water supply sources for Melbourne and other urban areas in Victoria," Institute of Public Affairs , Melbourne VIC, Occasional Paper 2008. x Read More