Southern Water hosted a community information session on odour issues from the Geeveston
wastewater treatment plant.
The information session enabled Southern Water to get direct feedback from the community on
odour impacts and provide the community an update on actions being undertaken to reduce odour
from the plant.
Executive Manager of Service Delivery, Mr Ian Dunbabin, said that the main cause of the odour
problem was excessive loads on the plant.
“The wastewater treatment plant was constructed in 1992 and designed to treat approximately 400
households. It is now receiving around double the load it was originally designed for, with
wastewater coming from both residential and commercial sources.
“Southern Water is working with a major trade waste customer to minimise loads on the plant by
trucking liquid waste to a number of Hobart wastewater treatment plants.
“We have also fast tracked the installation of additional blowers at the plant and this has already
resulted in an immediate improvement in plant performance.
“In the medium term we are going to commission a significant upgrade to the plant. This has been
programmed into our Capital Expenditure Plan for 2010/2011.
“We can appreciate that the odour is causing problems for residents and thank them for their
patience as we work to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. We will keep the Geeveston
community informed on our progress through letterbox drops, articles in the newspaper and the
community noticeboard.”
Ian Dunbabin
