17 August, 2022
Growth demands Wyreema water upgrade
A report commissioned by Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) has several recommendations aimed at improving Wyreema’s water supply as the town expands.
The Wyreema water supply network services a population of approximately 1,950 with 680 current active water connections.
Completed by Paul Quinlan, Principal Engineer Network Planning, the ‘Wyreema Water Supply Study’ was presented to TRC’s Waste and Water Committee last week.
The report notes the most recent study of the Wyreema water supply network was completed in August 2013.
Since then, Wyreema has been connected to the Toowoomba Bulk Water Supply via a connection to Westbrook.
The report says Wyreema’s water supply scheme was previously supplied by three bores located on Love Road, Newman Road and Hartvigsen Road.
“These bores fed directly into a 2 ML Ground Level (GL) reservoir on Newman Road, which was then pumped to a High Level (HL) reservoir that services the reticulation network.
“Due to quality and quantity issues these bores were decommissioned and a connection to the TBWS at Westbrook was completed in 2016,” the report said.
There are currently two standpipes in the Wyreema network located on Love Road and Wyreema Cambooya Road.
The Love Road standpipe utilises the old supply main from the Love Road bore to the reservoir and is used by the public.
The second standpipe, located near the railway on Cambooya Wyreema Road, is a dedicated standpipe for council use for water carting to southern towns such as Clifton.
The report notes that there are currently pressure concerns in parts of the town.
The existing maximum pressure is less than ideal in many parts of the north-east and north (Karara Gardens).
The existing minimum pressure is even less ideal, affecting the same areas as well as the western part of town.
Proposed changes to Wyreema’s water network include replacing the HL Reservoir with a booster pump station and decommissioning or relocating the Railway Standpipe.
“The HL Reservoir is undersized and does not provide sufficient pressure to all areas in Wyreema,” the report said.
“Replacing the HL Reservoir with a booster pump station resolves minimum pressure issues in the network.
“The existing network does not meet non-residential fireflow requirements.
“The standpipe currently used by council for water carting has significant impact on pressures throughout the Wyreema network when in use.”
The estimated cost for the works in $470,000.
