Construction has begun to upgrade the Margaret Street Pump Station in Tasmania, a key project under a $129.2 million plan promising greater environmental outcomes at the kanamaluka/Tamar estuary.
The $4.6 million Margaret Street Pump Station project will be delivered by Tasmanian firm BridgePro Engineering and is expected to be completed in March 2023.
The works will include extensive underground construction for a new underground chamber to improve management of combined sewage and stormwater flows.
The project is one of several upgrade projects planned to reduce the volume and frequency of sewage and stormwater overflows to the kanamaluka/Tamar estuary as part of the Tamar Estuary River Health Action Plan (TERHAP).
The plan to deal with one of the nation’s oldest sewerage systems is supported by environmental science leading to modern engineering solutions.
The kanamaluka/Tamar estuary is an iconic part of the Tasmanian landscape, and the longest navigable estuary in Australia.
Measurable benefits to the kanamaluka/Tamar estuary include:
- Targeting a 66 per cent reduction in combined sewage and stormwater overflow volumes in an average rainfall year
- Reducing the presence of human waste-related bacteria concentrations in the Tamar Estuary Zone 1 in an average rainfall year by up to 36 per cent
TERHAP is an initiative of the Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce and the Launceston City Deal, to improve the health of the Tamar and is jointly funded by the Australian and Tasmanian Governments, the City of Launceston and TasWater.
