NORTH QUEENSLAND
MIRANI WATER RECYCLING FACILITY & BOWEN SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT - SHARED SUPERINTENDENCY Dr Nicole Davis (former Mackay Regional Council Chief Operating Officer Water and Waste - now Redland Council) and Troy Pettiford Chief Operating Officer Water from Whitsunday Regional Council were instrumental in the realisation of the Shared Superintendency for Joint contract Management which facilitated significant efficiencies and lessons learned across both councils and projects. This article draws on MRC Business Cases, Greening and Growing Bowen Project Plan, Qld Water Award Submission, Qld Water Regional Alliance Program (QWRAP)Bid Pool Funding Project Finalisation Report and notes from the superintendent.
Multiple efficiencies stem from a shared superintendency across similar projects. Mackay and Whitsunday Regional councils tasked a highly skilled and qualified superintendent to oversee the upgrades to the Bowen Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) and Mirani Water Recycling Facility (WRF) with far-reaching benefits realised in technical and commercial spheres.
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Both projects resulted from community need, and environmental stewardship and regulatory compliance requirements. Lessons learned were transportable and the shared arrangement has augmented and boosted the knowledge transfer between projects and between councils. Project drivers - Community Need and Environmental Consideration Mackay Regional Council (MRC) and Whitsunday Regional Council (WRC) jointly commissioned the Mirani Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade project and the Bowen Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrade project, respectively over the threeyear forward works program from 2018-2019 to 2020-2021 financial years. Key delivery personnel for WRC were Chief Operating Officer for Water, Troy Pettiford and his counterpart at MRC, Dr. Nicole Davis (now GM Infrastructure and Operations at Redland CC) and Jason Devitt, Director of Engineering and Commercial Infrastructure, MRC. Both plants are essential to their regions’ water infrastructure, ensuring the wastewater generated in the townships is safely recycled and put to the community’s beneficial use. The respective upgrade projects provide security of service as the old plants were reaching their capacity and failures were becoming more frequent. Plant
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | JUNE 2021
Mr Troy Pettiford
Dr Nicole Davis
failures result in damage to the environment and possibly harm to the community. The population growth in both regions has increased pressure on the aging plants. The community stakeholders are no longer prepared to accept wastewater that is harmful to the environment, in particular the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The Greater Whitsunday regional catchment can significantly
