THE North West is home to the best-tasting water in the state after Richmond Shire Council was recognised in a Queensland-wide award.
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Richmond Shire Council earned the 2014 Orica Australia Best of the Best Queensland Water Taste Test at the IPWEA Queensland Conference in Caloundra this afternoon with the water from its pilot plant being selected as the best by conference delegates through some 440 individual ‘‘tastes’’.
For years Richmond residents have requested that the council improve the quality of water it supplies, complaining of the odour and the staining from the iron and manganese.
The council secured funding of $3.6 million from the state government to assist in development and installation of a first class water treatment plant for the residents of Richmond.
After seeking advice from numerous water experts, the council settled on Aeramix to design and implement the plant.
Richmond Shire Council chief executive Peter Bennett said the plant would be fully commissioned by December 2014 and would be the perfect Christmas present for the town.
‘‘Council is also conducting a major overhaul of its water mains with $1million being spent this calendar year.
‘‘These two projects will ensure that the residents of Richmond will have the best water in Queensland from the end of the year and into the considerable future.
‘‘This award showcases the hard work the Richmond Shire Council has gone through to get the best result possible.’’
Aeramix manager of technical services and innovation Mark Samblebe said his team was thrilled with the win and very happy for Richmond residents who will now be able to enjoy top tasting water.
‘‘Our hands-on, field-based approach to assessing process options and developing solutions has certainly delivered a great outcome on this occasion, and we look forward to seeing how the water from the full-scale plant will perform in the Water of Origin competition against NSW next year,’’ he said.
Richmond will now take on the NSW winner in the third Water of Origin Taste Test to be held at the Water Industry Operators Association of Australia Conference in 2015.
Water from Bundaberg’s Lovers Walk scheme beat the 2014 NSW winner – Bega Valley Shire Council – in June this year.