First pipes bring desalinated water to Melbourne

The first of more than 6200 pipes – 13.5 metres long and weighing 13 tonnes – were laid this week at Clyde North as part of the Victorian Desalination Project.

The pipes laid this week were manufactured at Tyco Water’s Somerton factory as part of a $150 million contract that has created 50 new jobs.

The steel to produce the pipes has been supplied by BlueScope Steel from its Hastings facility, helping to secure about 900 jobs.

The pipeline will carry desalinated water from the plant in Wonthaggi to the Melbourne water network via a connection close to where work has started and water will then flow directly to residents in south-east Melbourne, South Gippsland and Western Port via connection points along the pipe.

The ‘two-way’ pipe will enable people in South Gippsland and Western Port to receive water from Melbourne for the first time, creating an 84 km extension to the Melbourne water network.

Laying of the underground power cable, which will be co-located with the pipeline within the same easement, will begin soon.