Waiwera community to benefit from Watercare’s $45 million infrastructure programme

Watercare has officially broken ground on a $45 million programme to replace, upgrade and renew critical water and wastewater infrastructure in Waiwera.

Watercare head of wastewater planning Andrew Deutschle says under the Waiwera Water and Wastewater Servicing Programme, Watercare will deliver infrastructure to support anticipated population growth of around 1,600 people by 2068.

“As well as catering for growth, this programme will improve water quality in the Waiwera estuary, because we’ll no longer be discharging treated wastewater there.

“To achieve this, we are building a new wastewater pump station next to the current Waiwera Wastewater Treatment Plant and installing a 4.5-kilometre pipeline to connect it to the Hatfields Beach Pump Station.

“Wastewater from the Hatfields Beach Pump Station will be pumped to the Army Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it will be treated before being discharged via the Army Bay outfall.

“Once the new system is operational, the Waiwera Wastewater Treatment Plant will be decommissioned, as it has reached the end of its service life.

In addition to the wastewater upgrades, a new watermain will be installed to improve the reliability of the local water supply. It will be fed by the existing Waiwera reservoirs located at the top of Waiwera Hill.

Wielding of the new wastewater raising main on Hibiscus Coast Highway

Watercare project manager Martin Hughes says crews are starting to install the first 500 metres of the new wastewater pipe.

“The first section will be installed on the Hibiscus Coast Highway – starting near the overpass at the entrance to Waiwera township.

“We’re using horizontal directional drilling to install the pipe up to seven metres underground for approximately 2.7km of the 4.5km wastewater main.

“This method allows us to work beneath the surface without significant disruption to the road. Entry and exit pits will be required at approximately 200-metre intervals along the alignment.

“Some sections will be installed using open trenching because the ground conditions and alignment in those areas make trenchless drilling impractical.

“Trenchless installation of new pipes is best suited to straighter alignments and the section from Waiwera to the top of Waiwera hill is particularly winding which is why some of that section will have an open trench.”

Hughes expects the initial section of the wastewater pipeline to take around 10 weeks to complete.

“After that, our plan is to move swiftly through the next stages of work by having several crews working simultaneously across the infrastructure programme throughout next year.

"While this work is underway, there will be permanent lane closures on the northbound lane of Hibiscus Coast Highway.

“Traffic will be managed with two-way traffic signals on the southbound lane in approximately 500m sections.

“We understand this work may cause some inconvenience for motorists, and we truly appreciate your patience as we deliver essential upgrades for Waiwera.

“These improvements will help protect the environment and ensure a reliable water and wastewater service for generations to come.

“We’ll be keeping the community informed every step of the way, sharing progress updates and giving plenty of notice about any future disruptions.”