Woy Woy effluent may go to Mooney dam

Gosford Council is considering pumping treated effluent from Woy Woy Sewage Treatment Plant to Mooney Mooney Dam for drinking use.

The project would be a long-term alternative to injecting the water into the "groundwater mound" being used for the Council's groundwater extraction scheme.

It would involve "indirect drinking reuse from a water factory built at Woy Woy sewage treatment plant".

"The Woy Woy aquifer storage recovery (groundwater injection) project and the Woy Woy indirect drinking to Mooney Mooney projects are mutually exclusive because of the limited amount of treated water available," according to a staff report to this week's council meeting.

Council was told that when the groundwater extraction scheme became operational an existing pipeline to the dam would "become redundant" and could be used to pump water from the sewage treatment plant to either Lower or Upper Mooney Mooney dams.

Costings prepared by consultants Kellogg Brown and Root found that the upper dam scheme would cost about $34 million, translating to a "levelised cost" of $1.51 per kilolitre.

The upper dam scheme would cost close to $30 million, with a cost of $1.33 per kilolitre.

In its report to Council, the consultants said: "Successful implementation of such a recycled water scheme will rely heavily upon public acceptance of treatment technologies, risk mitigation strategies and other management measures."

They recommended the program be implemented in two main stages.

The first should aim "to inform the community and involve them in the decision-making process".

The second stage involved the implementation of the preferred option.

The other option being considered involved pumping treated effluent to Mooney Mooney dam from Kincumber sewage treatment plant, for a cost of $1.39 per kilolitre.

Council agenda SF.35, September 2