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Technology in Australia 1788-1988Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
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Table of Contents

Chapter 3

I Background

II Early European Settlements

III Assessment Of Available Water Resources

IV Water Supplies For Goldmining Development

V Irrigation Development

VI Farm And Stock Water Supplies

VII Urban Water Supplies
i Reticulation systems
ii Water treatment
iii Water saving techniques
iv Desalination
v Conjunctive use - West Pilbara water supply
vi Conjunctive use - Newcastle and district water supply scheme
vii Olympic Dam mining project - water supply
viii Urban water supply dams in South Australia
ix Multi-purpose schemes - the Wivenhoe project

VIII Wastewater Management And Treatment

IX Water Quality Management

X Limnological And Water Quality Research

XI New Techniques In Water Resource Planning And Management

XII Legislation

XIII Conclusion

XIV List Of Abbreviations

XV Acknowledgements

XVI Plantations-high Productivity Resources

References

Index
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Multi-purpose schemes - the Wivenhoe project

The largest and best known multi-purpose water scheme in Australia is the Snowy Mountains Project, which combines power generation and water conservation for irrigation for use in several States. It is described in Chapter 6, as its principal technological features are concerned with the design and construction of dams, tunnels and associated engineering works.

The Wivenhoe Project in Southern Queensland is included in this section, as it is the largest and most advanced urban water supply-flood mitigation-pumped storage power generation project in Queensland and probably in Australia. This project, 90 km north-west of Brisbane, has three major elements -Wivenhoe Dam, Splityard Creek Dam and Wivenhoe Power Station.

Wivenhoe Dam is of the earth and rockfill type, with a full supply capacity of 1.15 million ML and an additional 1.45 million ML of flood storage. It will add 450,000 ML per annum to urban water supplies in the region and will have the effect of reducing a major flood event such as the 1974 Brisbane flood from 10,150 to 5,000 m3sec. This is equivalent to a reduction in flood height of some 2.5 m in the City business centre, which incurred millions of dollars worth of damage in that flood.

Splityard Creek Dam, also of earth and rockfill construction, is some 100 m above Wivenhoe Dam and is filled by pumping from Wivenhoe in offpeak periods.

Wivenhoe Power Station comprises two pump/generators, each driven by a Francis water turbine. As a peak load station, it generates 500 MW over morning and evening peaks.

Good sites for pumped storage schemes are rare in Australia. Wivenhoe is one of these rare sites and its close proximity to Brisbane will produce very significant benefits for that city and the surrounding region.


Organisations in Australian Science at Work - Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme; Wivenhoe Power Station, Qld; Wivenhoe project, Qld

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© 1988 Print Edition page 178, Online Edition 2000
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