Somerset Regional Council awarded a tender to construct a recycled water pipeline to three key areas in Lowood in its 10 April ordinary meeting.
The project, Greening Lowood, is a council initiative to provide benefit to the community on the back of the newly constructed Lowood Fernvale wastewater treatment plant.
The tender has been awarded to Silverstrand Development who, at a cost of about $1.5 million, will be responsible for the supply and installation of a new pipeline that will, when complete, service the Lowood Bowls Club, Lowood Recreational Reserve and Lowood Golf Club.
Somerset Regional Council CEO Andrew Johnson said the initiative aimed to droughtproof the Lowood community facilities with recycled water.
“There’s an opportunity to extract and expand this as well in phase 2, this is phase 1,” Mr Johnson said.
“There’s some foresight in this.”
Mayor Jason Wendt said council wanted to get the project right.
“From a community point of view, community members go ‘why does this take so long?'” he said.
“We need to try and get this as right as we can for the community, and it’s cost-effective as well.
“This will be one of those projects we look back on and say ‘we took that opportunity when we could’ and it pays off in the long term.
“None of us think about water at the moment, because it rains every week, but in five years time when it doesn’t rain for three months this will be an absolute blessing.”
Councillor Helen Brieschke said the project would empower the community groups
“This will give them the ability to go forward with their respective activities,” she said.
Council will utilise $1.4 million in funding secured through the SEQ Community Stimulus Program to help deliver this project.
