Sewage overflow on the nose at Eglinton

At the January 9 Alkimos Progress Association meeting, Amberton estate residents said the overflows on December 27 and January 2 took three days to filter out and authorities had used 10 litres of disinfectant on the area.

Water Corporation’s Perth regional manager Steve Dorricott told the Times in both cases, the utility responded quickly and had rectified the situation and cleaned the area on the same day.

‘When a blockage or overflow is reported we visit the site, investigate the cause, take steps to rectify the situation and clean the affected area,’ he said.

Although near the Alkimos Waste Water Treatment Plant, the Eglinton estate and western side of the adjacent Shorehaven estate are not yet connected to the main wastewater system.

Mr Dorricott said the Water Corporation would build a wastewater pump station by the end of 2014 to connect the estates to the plant, but it currently used tankers to remove wastewater.

‘Water Corporation started tankering from Amberton Estate in September and we are now tankering wastewater from the estate on a daily basis,’ he said.

‘We are also working with the developer to install a temporary pump arrangement that will remove the need for tankering.’

A spokesman from Amberton’s developer, Stockland, said an apparent excess in the estate, which had about 70 completed homes, had caused the temporary overflows.

‘As soon as Stockland was notified of the overflow by residents we reported the matter to Water Corporation,’ he said.

‘Water Corporation advised Stockland that this single overflow was an isolated incident and that there was minimal risk to the public because the overflow was reported and rectified promptly.’

Mr Dorricott said the authority had taken steps to minimise the likelihood of further overflows, and that tanker arrangements with developers were common to ensure developments could progress.

He said the Alkimos plant could treat 20 million litres of wastewater a day but was currently treating 8 million litres a day from suburbs north of Burns Beach Road to Eglinton.