Australian Water Management Review Vol 2 2013 | Page 28

solving inDustry ChAllenges with AustrAliAn innovAtion
BELGRAVE HEIGHTS PRESSURE SEWER PROJECT This iota case study describes the Belgrave Heights Pressure Sewer Project and the use of innovative water industry technologies to achieve excellent community outcomes and significant capital and operational savings for South East Water in Victoria. The innovations discussed include a 3-Dimensional visualisation software (Visual Water) which assisted the planning, design and operational phases of the project; and a remote monitoring and controlling technology for individual pressure sewer pumps (SUREpoint).
Project Summary Belgrave Heights is a suburb on the outskirts of Melbourne in the State of Victoria, Australia. A well established suburb in an almost rural setting, Belgrave Heights homes were traditionally installed with Septic Tanks. The Victorian Government has set the task for Victorian Water Authorities to provide improved sewer capabilities to ‘unsewered’ parts of their network over the course of a defined period of time. The Belgrave Heights Project had been part of this Backlog Program for SE Water for a number of years and had not been implemented due to a number of challenges. Geotechnical investigations and site inspections indicated extensive proportions containing hard granite rock protruding from the surface or at shallow depths, making it difficult to service properties using deep gravity sewers. The degree of granite resulted in a relatively high budgeted capital cost for this scheme, with significant risk allowances built in based on previous projects around the area. The area also has steep topography and culturally significant areas which needed to be considered. These complexities provide significant challenges not just for the design and construction of the reticulation system, but also for property connections to the reticulation network. As an example, a simple PSS installation may be approximately $15,000AUD, however in an area such as Belgrave Heights, the connection may cost $50,000AUD if hard rock excavation is required. The project team collaborated to resolve environmental, amenity, operational and cost challenges, while
22 | AustrAliAn water man age m e nt re v ie w

a caPItal delIveRy and oPeRatIonal eFFIcIency case study

fully adapting technology, design, operations and implementation practices to challenging Australian conditions. Key project innovations included: 1. 3-Dimensional Visualisation of Data for Sub Surface Infrastructure Design South East Water collaborated with a New Zealand based 3-D software company (Nextspace) to adapt technology previously used in manufacturing design. The result is a powerful visualisation tool, providing 3-Dimensional, animated visual displays of below ground data and information for infrastructure planning. For Belgrave Heights, the tool visualised the hard rock from Geomorphology, LIDAR, Ground Penetrating Radar and other data sources. Having a 3D model which could be interrogated, allowed South East Water to design the reticulation system to minimise costly rock excavation or drilling - saving the project several million dollars in budgeted capital costs. 2. Real-time Property Planning Using iPad Given the availability of 3-D rock and other data from the reticulation design phase, SE Water maximised use of this data by collaborating to establish an ‘App’ for the iPad. This was used to reduce the property inspections and planning process from 8 weeks to 3 days. The auditors use key Apple functionality to click, drag or flick items on screen to indicate where fixtures are located and where the pressure pump should be installed using 3D modelling of rock on the property to a depth of 2m. Customers sign off on the proposed design on the iPad before it is uploaded to the SE Water property development team to review and approve – again using the 3D technology to verify the design. In 95% of properties instal