The Physical Parameters of Resources in Winneke Treatment and Cardinia Reservoir - Case Study Example

WINNEKE TREATMENT PLANT (SUGARLOAF RESERVOIR) AND CARDINIA RESERVOIR By (Name) Institution Instructor Class/Course City Date Introduction Water is life as many argues and its purification is a major public concern in many countries in the world. In the same way, water also offer many other importance other than domestic, industrial, as well as medical use. Large water bodies are used in agriculture and tourism. The purpose of water for human existence thus goes beyond the normal assertions by people (Pamminger,& Kenway, 2008). Water is very relevant in unleashing nature and cool healthy environmental importance for humanity. Developed in 1970s and completed in 1981, the Sugarloaf Reservoir has become one of the plants that make the necessity of water an important reality in Melbourne (ABS, 2006). As the fourth largest reservoir in the Melbourne’s water supply system, it has a total water capacity of 96 MegaLitres. Being managed by the Melbourne Water and Supplies therefore, it serves the northern, and the western inner suburbs of Melbourne. Clean water is necessary for the people and this plant enable the cleaning process of water before Melbourne people consumes it. Being fed by the Yarra River and the Maroondah Aqueduct River, with most of it coming from Yarra River, water is treated at the Winneke Water Treatment Plant situated at the south of the Sugarloaf Reservoir before entering the domestic water supply. being part of the Sugarloaf Reservoir , the Winneke Water Treatment Plant treats provide more than 25 percent of the drinking water used in Melbourne and according to Viggers, et al., (2013), the plant is well reinforced the stable and steady water supply from the rivers mentioned above and the Christmas Hills. Cardinia Reservoir on the other hand is one of the largest (second largest to be exact) man made reservoirs, referred to as water supply dammed reservoirs in Australia. It has a capacity of 287,000 MegaLitres of water store and located at the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. It was constructed and completed in 1970 and 1973 respectively to serve the Melbourne people. With its area coverage of 2800 hectares, Cardinia Dam has served a precious purpose to the Melbourne’s water supply system. According to Viggers, et al., (2013), water treatment plan plays an important role in providing drinking water to the people of Melbourne and this make these reservoirs and the treatment plants such as Winneke very important to the livelihood of the people of this region. This report therefore purposes to comprehensively analyze and examine the physical parameters of these resources, catchment areas as well as purification of water and its distribution in the process of serving its purpose to Melbourne. Physical data on the dams Cardinia Reservoir is the second largest man-made dam in Victoria with a water capacity of 287,000 MegaLitres. In this case therefore, it is larger than the Sugarloaf Reservoir which has a smaller catchment area as well. The Sugarloaf Reservoir has a capacity of only 96 MegaLitres. In the same way, the Sugarloaf Reservoir was somehow developed and completed (developed in 1970s and completed in 1981) after the Cardinia Reservoir had been completed (which was developed in 1970 and completed in 1973), meaning that Cardinia Reservoir is 40 years old while Sugarloaf Reservoir is approximately 33 years old. It is also fair to argue that both the dams are rolled earth field and rock-fill emabarkment types. Basically, Sugarloaf Reservoir is higher than Cardinia Reservoir, with the two dams having a maximum height of 89 meters and 85 meters respectively. However, Cardinia Reservoir length along the top of the dam is longer than that of Sugarloaf Reservoir, with 1,050 meters and 1,542 meters respectively (Pamminger,& Kenway, 2008). Considering the catchment areas, Cardinal Reservoir has a larger catchment area than the Sugarloaf Reservoir with a catchment area of 2,800 hectares and 915 hectares respectively. In the same way, Cardinal Reservoir has a larger surface area (considered as the top of the water level) than the Sugarloaf Reservoir, areas of 1295 hectares and 440 hectares respectively. Current Holding and Water Capacity According to the Melbourne annual Rainfall Report of 2011 (Water Storages , 2012), there has been a significant increase in the water capacity for the two dams due increased amount of rainfall the last decade as shown in table 1 below. Due to their construction and size standards, both the dams have excellent capacity utilization. The Cardinia Reservoir has an irregular rainfall distribution (table 1) over the past years and this distribution has been very critical in preserving its holding and water capacity. Table 1: Rainfall distribution for Cardinia Reservoir (catchment rainfall for Cardinia Reservoir) Sourced from: www.melbournewater.com.au.com Sugarloaf reservoir has capacity of 96,253 MegaLitres and has a current holding capacity of 92,592 MegaLitres when it is 96.2% full. This means that the reservoir can still hold more water than it does currently. Cardinal Reservoir on the other hand has a capacity of 286,911 MegaLitres as described above, and currently has a holding capacity of 205,756 MegaLitres because it is 71.7% full. This means 28.3% is still unoccupied. A fair comparison of the two reservoirs and other reservoirs shows that the two (especially the Cardinal reservoir) have a better capacity as well as current holding capacity than these other reservoirs, only with the exception of Thomson Reservoir that has a capacity of 1,068,000 MegaLitres and currently has a holding capacity of 606,210 MegaLitres considering that it is only 56.8% full (Newman, 1999). The Upper Yarra Reservoir on the other hand has a capacity of 200,579 MegaLitres and currently holds a capacity of 139,438 MegaLitres because t is 69.5% full. Silvan Reservoir, Tarago Reservoir, and Yan Yean Reservoir on the other hand have a capacity of 40,445 MegaLitres, 37,580 MegaLitres, and 30,266 MegaLitres respectively. In the same order their current holding capacities are 35,745 MegaLitres (88.4% full), 20,562 MegaLitres (54.7% full), and 26,954 MegaLitres (89.1% full) respectively. The other smaller dams such as the Greenvale Reservoir, the Maroondah Reservoir, and the O’Shannassy Reservoir have capacities of 26,839 MegaLitres, 22,179 MegaLitres, and 3,123 MegaLitres of water in the same order. They also have a current holding capacity of 21,004 MegaLitres being 78.3% full, 20,354 MegaLitres being 91.8% full, and 2,397 MegaLitres also being 76.8% full respectively.   Water sources for the dams Water source is the ‘‘genesis’’ of a dam (Newman, 1999) and approximated 20 percent of the water in Melbourne comes from the open catchment areas are collected (finally stored) in the main water reservoirs such as the Thomson Reservoir, Upper Yarra Reservoir, Tarago Reservoir, Yan Yean Reservoir, and Maroondah Reservoir. They are basically referred to as the encatchment areas. From these main reservoirs, the water is then transferred to storage reservoirs such as Cardinal, Sugarloaf, Silvan Reservoir, and Greenvale Reservoir, upon which are water treatment plants like the Winneke plant. According to Melbourne water supply management, that is responsible for managing, storing, harvesting, treating, and distributing water, a large portion of Melbourne water comes from the protected (or inhabited mountain ash) areas and forest zones of the Yarra ranges from the eastern part of Melbourne. In this area, more than 157,000 hectares have been reserved for the harvesting of water primarily (Newman, 1999). In the same way, water flows from the catchment areas in the uppermost catchment zones to reservoirs such as Thompson and the Yarra River Reservoirs as described above where, according to Viggers, et al., (2013), it is stored for some period, normally years, before being used. This period allows for the sedimentation process to take place naturally, considering that the forest water has sediments. With time, the sediments in the water are washed by the rain and settles finally and a natural purification is done in this case. Finally, transferred to the recommended reservoirs described above and then treated through coagulation, flocculation, and filtration processes in the plants such as the Winneke water treatment plant. It is then finally supplied to the people of Melbourne. Purification Treatment of water at Winneke Public health concerns are always on the knowhow of the clean water supply to the public. Clean water is protects our health, according to Melbourne Water, Annual Report (2011), and the Melbourne water supply management ensures that clean water, safe for drinking is supplied efficiently to Melbourne. Considering that most of the water stored in the major water reservoirs in Melbourne comes from the protected catchment areas which supply very high quality water, most of the drinking water that goes to Melbourne requires little treatment processes. Notably, this water is disinfected before entering the main supply system from the main storage reservoirs. However, some water that comes from the unprotected zones must pass through full treatment process in the Winneke Water Treatment Plant. The treatment process involves various steps that remove impurities before water is disinfected. This step by step process include coagulation, clarification (and floatation), filtration, disinfection, fluoridation, and pH correction. The Winneke water treatment plant is located in the Christmas Hills, and according to Bartram (2009), serves more than 50 percent of the daily water needs of Melbourne. It is served by the Sugarloaf Water reservoir, which receive water from the Yarra River and Maroondah reservoir as described earlier on. Considering its volume, it is thus assumed to be the largest water treatment plant in Melbourne. The treatment process in this plant also follows the water treatment process as stated above and explained below; Coagulation The coagulation stage is where the small particles in the water, such as silt, microbes, and other suspensions I the water are removed. Here, the unprotected water is poured into the inlet control of the Winneke from the Sugarloaf Reservoir. It is thus combined with the liquid form of aluminum sulphate which acts as a coagulant. Coagulant helps in making the suspended particles, silt, as well as other micro-organisms in the unprotected water to join each other and form a bigger particle that can be easily removed. Clarification At this stage, the motion of water is slowed by several underground water networks in the circulation chambers which have clarifiers. According to Bartram(2009), dissemination of water take place here for some period of around four hours, whereby sludge, a residue of solids and water, accumulates at the basin's bottom and is pumped or scraped out for eventual disposal. More than that, the clarifiers increases the cohesion process of the suspended solids and also color is eliminated at this stage. Solid particles are thus removed from the unprotected water and sludge (settled water) is formed as a result. Filtration Filtration process removes the residual suspended solids from the settled water from the clarification stage. Microorganisms, algae, silt, and other inorganic matter that precipitates from the ground water-sources are eliminated at this stage. PH correction and disinfection From the filters, water is chlorinated to disinfect it from the remaining microbes according to Kawamura (2000). In this case; small amount of chlorine is added to water to kill the disease causing organisms that may be present in water. Finally, lime is added to regulate the pH level of the water (maintain the acidity an alkalinity level) and the treated water flows then finds its way into the major clean water storage reservoir. Uses of the dam water Water, as described earlier, have many uses, among them are agricultural, industrial, and importantly domestic uses. The domestic uses (residential uses) is the main focus for treatment of water at the treatment plants such as Winneke Water Treatment Plant and help sustain the large water usage in Melbourne. According to Melbourne Water, Annual Report (2011), the daily consumption of water in Melbourne as per 2011 annual report is 963 million liters. Most of this water is consumed for residential purposes. The industries also consume about 30 percent of the water for cooling process and other industrial uses. Agriculture takes the rest of the water for agricultural and gardening practices. Environmental impacts of the water removal from the Yarra River The aftermath of improper removal of water from the Yarra River have adverse environmental effects such as draughts and climatic changes. Proactive steps should be taken in order to reduce or minimize these effects such as water restrictions and conservations. Catchment management should be put in place to avoid some of these environmental risks and protect water production as well as conserving bio-diversity within the catchment areas. Other than the above mentioned environmental effects, there are other problems faced by the Melbourne water supply management such as droughts and fires. Floods are a major problem and according to Kawamura (2000), some steps have been taken to control this menace. Flood mapping, awareness of the social impacts of floods and its control, and environmental changes awareness has been enhanced further taking the management of floods very efficient in Melbourne (Pamminger,& Kenway, 2008). Drought and fires are also some of the major problems which have lead to the initiation of drought and fire response plans that have been very crucial in arresting bushfires and sustaining drought situations. Discussion and conclusion The competition of the Winneke Water Treatment Plant and other treatment plants has made Melbourne a safe region from unhealthy water. The natural features of the region have generally contributed to its advantage, as the hilly areas, and the favorable rainfall distribution has enabled the region to have a sustainable water supply. Although several side environmental side effects arise out of the industrial activities, Melbourne has taken several important steps to preserve its water supply as well as natural preservation. Water is life as argued earlier and thus its purification is a major public concern in many countries in the world. The sound scientific water management in Melbourne and well environmental awareness as practiced in the Melbourne is a sure testimony that clean water is necessary for the people and this (Winneke) plant enable the cleaning process of water before Melbourne people consumes it. References ABS . 2006. Water Account Australia 2004-05, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. Bartram, J., World Health Organization., & International Water Association. 2009. Water safety plan manual: Step-by-step risk management for drinking-water suppliers. Geneva: World Health Organization.  Kawamura, S. 2000. Integrated Design of Water Treatment Facilities (2nd ed.), John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York. Keary, J. 1981, Water Victoria: the next 100 years. East Melbourne, Dept. of Conservation & Environment, Victoria. Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works 1983, Sugarloaf Reservoir and Winneke Treatment Plant, The Board, [Melbourne?]. Melbourne Water, Annual Report 2011; Accessed on 12 April 2012 From: http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/library/about_us/who_we_are/annual_report_2010-11/Melbourne%20Water%20Annual%20Report%202010-11.pdf  Newman, P. W. G. (1999) Sustainability and cities: extending the metabolism model, Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 219-226. Pamminger, F. and Kenway, S. J. 2008. Urban metabolism – a concept to improve the sustainability of the urban water sector, Journal of the Australian Water Association, Vol. 5, pp. 12. Viggers, J. I., Weaver, H. J., & Lindenmayer, D. 2013. Melbourne's water catchments: Perspectives on a world-class water supply.  Water Storages (2012) Melbourne Water [Online] http://www.melbournewater.com.au/default.asp?bhcp=1, Date Accessed: 27/03/2012. Read More