Wangaratta Water Treatment Plant on Faithfull Street will receive a $19.35 million upgrade to accommodate forecast population growth in Wangaratta until 2040.

The existing population for the whole rural city is about 30,000 but demographic forecasts indicate growth to about 34,000 residents by 2041.

Rezoned residential growth corridors in urban Wangaratta will cater for most of the growth.

This includes north-west urban that is projected to yield 1670 lots to house up to 5000 residents, and to the south there are 615 lots to accommodate about 1800 residents.

Wangaratta Water Treatment Plant treats raw water for urban potable use, and the city has a total water entitlement of 8400 megalitres it can draw from the Ovens River, Fifteen Mile Creek, and local bores per annum to service Wangaratta and Glenrowan urban customers.

North East Water (NEW) managing director Jo Murdoch said their master planning process has identified the need to undertake significant capital works at the Faithfull Street water treatment plant so it can continue to reliably service Wangaratta.

She said numerous treatment plant assets will soon require replacements or upgrades due their condition and age.

This work supports the need to increase treatment capacity to service town growth in Wangaratta until 2040, when additional water entitlements and a new water treatment plant will be required.

The project’s scope of works include filter remediation works, water storage bypass, and new UV reactors; clarifier upgrade and remediation; pump replacements and pipework; and treatment chemical systems upgrade.

The project is currently in an early planning stage in which detailed assessments are being carried out to support concept development and the sequencing of works.

Over the next five years, North East Water will deliver a $280.2 million capital investment program supporting more than 9000 new home connections and creating an estimated 500 planning and construction jobs across the region.