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Comparison of water supply scenarios

The consultant’s report short-listed four water supply scenarios.

The water supply scenarios are compared below on the basis of security of supply and costs.

Council’s engineering staff recommend Scenario 3 – permanent connection to the Rous County Council water supply.

Return to the main page to view a detailed summary of the scenarios and to provide your feedback.

Scenario	Security of Supply	Capital Cost	30 year operation and maintenance cost
Scenario 1: Base case: Improvements to the existing raw water transfer system, a new Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and full emergency connection to the regional supply and new WTP	Secure until 2027. Beyond 2027, restrictions may become more frequent and/or more severe.	$14,430,000 (weir supply, WTP, emergency supply)	$4,862,000 (operation of local supply)
Scenario 2: Off-stream storage: Improvements to the existing raw water transfer system, full emergency connection to the regional supply, construction of a 200 ML off-stream storage and new WTP.	A 200 ML storage is expected to provide a secure supply until approximately 2060.	$35,830,000 (weir supply, WTP, emergency supply, 200 ML storage)	$5,363,000 (operation of local supplies)
Scenario 3: Permanent connection to Rous County Council regional supply: Mullumbimby would form part of the RCC regional supply network with bulk treated water transferred to the Azalea Street reservoirs.	The secure yield would be determined by the RCC bulk supply system, as with the remainder of Byron Shire.	$4,264,000 (weir supply, emergency supply, pipeline duplication)	$20,910,000 (purchase of water)
Scenario 4: Supplementary groundwater. Improvements to the existing raw water transfer system, new WTP, full emergency connection to the regional supply, construction of new bores to the south-west of Mullumbimby with raw water transferred either to the weir or the new WTP for treatment and distribution to the township.	A supplementary groundwater supply with a yield of 1.1 ML/d is expected to provide a secure supply until 2050. Higher groundwater yields would reduce reliance on the weir supply and increase the security of the groundwater option.	$18,149,000	$5,497,000 (operation of local supplies)