CITY of Vincent is set to save thousands of dollars in gas bills but not before it spends a couple of hundred thousand more on the Beatty Park geothermal system.
Councillors passed a motion last week for the City to fork out $243,000 for rectification works, an additional boiler and replacement of an existing boiler with three small ones.
The bore at the leisure centre was installed during redevelopments between 2011 and 2013 with the purpose of heating the pool , and has since cost the City more than $100,000 annually in gas bills.
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READ NOWA review of the bore was requested by the City in May 2014 after it underperformed in its first year, supplying only between 50 and 75 per cent of the pool heating requirements.
It was discovered the heat exchanges and valves were undersized.
Upgrades were completed in October 2014, which brought gas bill expenditure down by $160,000 but the system experienced breakdowns.
Once these future works are complete, the system is expected to operate in accordance with the original design intent.
Mayor John Carey said it was important to shine a light on the City’s shortcomings.
“The City has positioned itself as a leader on transparency,” he said.
“This is another embarrassing episode for the City; we have to assure our residents that we are not going back to the past.
“The community’s expectations are higher and they expect better.”
He said he had full confidence in City staff to put it on the correct path.