1. Normanton/Karumba WTP Upgrade
Matt Fanning
Director
TBG Pty Ltd

2. Normanton/Karumba Shire pop: 2100 (Wet season) Karumba residents: 600
Karumba tourists: 2,000
Industry: Mining, tourism fishing

3. Existing Scheme Normanton/Karumba Water Treatment Plant
1963 – Normanton Water Supply Established
1982 – New 300mm rising main and Clear water storage, 23km rising main
Karumba connected 42km rising main
1999 – capacity upgrade (copied existing clarifiers), new storages both Normanton and Karumba
Capacity of 3.5 ML/day,
Storage Capacity 2.36ML Normanton, 5ML Karumba

4. Project Summary Normanton/Karumba Water Treatment Plant
2000 – Planning report – $1.68M
2003 – SCAP funding awarded - $3M grant
2004 – Glenore Weir raising investigation
2006 – Telemetry system implemented (basic automation, but mainly alarms and reporting)
further investigations little traction
October 2009 – Peer Review Hyder Consulting
2009 – Advised by State that SCAP Funding Withdrawn loss of $1M back to Government
November 2009 – Design Awarded to BTO
December 2010 – Works commenced
June 2011 – Works completed

5. Scheme Issues High Operator costs – Manual processes
Difficult to operate – SCADA not full automation
High risk of water quality failure
Changing water quality guidelines
Building required renewal
Equipment out dated and high maintenance
Upgrade could only occur during the wet season

6. Scheme Vision
To implement a cost effective and reliable Water Treatment System for the towns of Normanton and Karumba.

7. Basic Principles of WTP
Pump water from source location

8. Basic Principles of WTP
Remove large particles in clarifier
Coagulant

9. Basic Principles of WTP
Remove fine particles in gravity filter

10. Basic Principles of WTP
Apply disinfection – generally chlorine TO
SUPPLY

11. Existing Plant Overview
Filter 6
Clarifier 5 4 3 2 1
Washwater
Air Scour
Raw Water
Existing Building
Res. #1
Res. #3
Res. #2
Dosing Points

12. Existing Plant Overview

13. Existing Plant Overview

14. State of WTP in 2009 WTP review (2009)
Catchment management issues leading to raw water contamination;
Extremes of turbidity in the raw water difficult to treat;
High filtered water turbidity leading to risk of pathogen shielding and breakthrough;
Elevated iron levels leading to oxidant consumption and discoloured treated water;
Compromised disinfection efficiency;
Presence of Hydrogen Sulphide in Supply Sources;
Tastes and odours in the treated water.

15. State of WTP in 2009 Existing chemical systems
Did not meet Workplace H&S standards
Chemical make-up labour intensive
Chemical quality open to human error
Chemical dosing set by operator
Dosing not proportional with flow

16. Dosing System

17. State of WTP in 2009 Existing Clarifiers
Poor performance at high flows
Poor performance when high turbidity
Problems de-sludging
Odour problems
Solids carry-over to filter

18. Clarifiers

19. Clarifiers

20. State of WTP in 2009 Existing Filters
Poor filtration (poor water quality)
Manual washing;
Labour intensive
Damage to filter media

21. Poor filter Performance

22. State of WTP in 2009 Old Backwash system (used to clean filters)
Flow too low (poor washing of media)
No standby pump
Difficult to prime
Labour intensive
No NRV fitted to pump

23. Poor Backwash System
Air Blower
Backwash
Pump

24. State of WTP in 2009 Old Air Scour (used to help wash filters)
Air flow too low (poor agitation of media)
No standby blower
Labour intensive

25. Poor Air Scour System

26. Poor Air Scour System

27. State of WTP in 2009 Chlorine dosing Not proportional to flow
No gas detection & alarm
Labour intensive

28. Poor Chlorine Dosing System

29. State of WTP in 2009 General state of building Not cyclone rated
Termite damage
Leaking
Possible asbestos

31. Risk? Risk Assessment Risk Category Risk Item PROB CON Risk Score
Risk Rating
Water Quality
Protozoa 4 70
280
Very High
Bacteriological
Disinfection By-Products 3 10 30
Moderate
Aesthetics (Taste, Staining) 5 50
High
Water Supply
Short Term Loss of Supply
200
Extended Loss of Supply
210
Health & Safety
Building & Stairways
Chemical Handling
150

32. Why Automate? Main reasons to automate the WTP
Reduce labour costs ($200k/yr)
Improve quality of water
Optimise chemical use (save $$$)
Improve reliability of plant
Accurate reporting and alarming

33. First Step? Options study 1 – Refurbish existing plant
2 – New clarifier & refurbish existing filters
3 – New clarifier & membrane filtration
4 – Membrane filtration only
Include
New intake at Glenore Weir

34. New Clarifier & Existing Filters New Clarifier & Existing Filters
Which Option?
CAPEX
Refurbishment Only
New Clarifier & Existing Filters
Clarifier & Membrane
Membrane Only
$ 2,401,000
$ 3,046,000
$ 4,346,000
$ 4,355,000
OPEX
Refurbishment Only
New Clarifier & Existing Filters
Clarifier & Membrane
Membrane Only
$ ,000
$ ,000
$ ,000
$ ,000

35. New Clarifier & Existing Filters
Which Option?
Estimated NPV
Year
Refurbishment Only
New Clarifier & Existing Filters
Clarifier & Membrane
Membrane Only 15
$ 4,595,000
$ 4,986,000
$ 7,183,000
$ 7,106,000 20
$ 4,943,000
$ 5,305,000
$ 7,647,000
$ 7,558,000 25
$ 5,181,000
$ 5,522,000
$ 7,964,000
$ 7,865,000 30
$ 5,315,000
$ 5,644,000
$ 8,142,000
$ 8,039,000

36. Preferred Option New clarifier & refurbish existing filters
New air scour system
New washwater system
New chemical dosing
New buildings
Complete automation

37. Actiflo Clarifier

38. Implementation Construction issues
Operational plant (Normanton & Karumba)
Remote location (Materials & skilled labour)
Procurement (Australian & New Zealand)
WEATHER!
4 phase construction

39. Construction Sequence 1
Filter 6
Clarifier 5 4 3 2 1
Washwater
Air Scour
Raw Water
NEW Building
Res. #1
Res. #3
Res. #2
ACTIFLO

40. Temp chemical dosing systems

41. Demolition

42. Construction Sequence 2
Filter 6
Clarifier 5 4 3 2 1
Washwater
Air Scour
Raw Water
NEW Building
Res. #1
Res. #3
Res. #2
New Backwash
Water
New Air Scour
ACTIFLO

43. Fabrication

44. Staff Induction Training!

45. Construction Sequence 3
Filter 6
Clarifier 5 4 3 2 1
Washwater
Air Scour
Raw Water
NEW Building
Res. #1
Res. #3
Res. #2
New Backwash
Water
New Air Scour
ACTIFLO

46. New pipe work and control valves

47. New Clarifier

48. Construction Sequence 4
Filter 6
Clarifier 5 4 3 2 1
Air Scour
Raw Water
NEW Building
Res. #1
Res. #3
Res. #2
New Backwash
Water
New Air Scour
ACTIFLO

49. New MCC Building

50. Filter Refurbishment

52. Filter Control

53. New chemical Dosing System

54. New WTP Building

55. New WTP Building

56. WTP Performance Old Performance New Performance
Raw water quality Turbidity = 50 NTU
Old clarifiers Turbidity = 3 NTU
After refurbished filters Turbidity = 1 NTU
Maximum flow (3 filters) = 36l/s!
New Performance
After Actiflo clarifier Turbidity = 1 NTU
After refurbished filters Turbidity = NTU
Maximum flow (3 filters) = 50l/s!

57. WTP Performance

58. What Else? Additions to main contract Norman River PS
Karumba chlorination system upgrade
Telemetry system upgrade
Procurement
Construction management
Commissioning

59. Lessons Learnt? Keep it simple Appreciation of location
Supply of materials
Available labour/contractors
Weather
Build as much off site as possible
Good working relationship with client

60. Why Use BTO? Excellence in Water & Wastewater Engineering
They delivered on their promises:
on time
with clear reports & designs
with staff / resources promised
on budget
BTO don’t just write reports – they get things done and deliver!

61. QUESTIONS???