When South Gippsland Water wanted to connect 445 regional properties to its mains sewer network, it knew it couldn’t take a traditional approach.
“Conventional deep sewer networks make sense for high-density environments but would have been cost-prohibitive for servicing this regional community,” explains South Gippsland Water’s Managing Director, Phillippe du Plessis.
Yet the public health and environmental issues caused by failing septic systems, coupled with future growth projections for the communities of Poowong, Loch and Nyora, meant that a solution had to be found.
“OneBox® puts control into the hands of engineers and operations teams.”
PHILLIPPE DU PLESSIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR SOUTH GIPPSLAND WATER
A smarter sewer
Enter: OneBox®. Developed and proven within the South East Water network, this internet-connected pump controller sits inside a storage tank at each home, and releases wastewater intelligently into the sewer network, smoothing flows throughout the day.
The South Gippsland Water project was a natural fit for OneBox®. Since it’s easily retrofitted to septic systems, it can have a huge impact on the planning and cost of this kind of network development.
OneBox® reduces the peak-and-trough flow cycle that traditional networks experience –
which, naturally, necessitates the laying of pipes that can accommodate significant peak flows.
As a result, water utilities like South Gippsland Water can lay smaller-diameter pipes, and install lower-capacity treatment plants. And for the communities affected by the Poowong, Loch and Nyora Sewer Scheme, this meant that only low-impact drilling and small-scale excavation was needed.
In terms of ongoing operations, OneBox® puts control into the hands of engineers and operations teams. The OneBox® platform lets water utility teams shut down pumps to inhibit catchments ahead of significant rain events, and restart pumps following power outages, remotely. It also gives them the ability to control OneBox® at premise- and network-wide levels from their computers and mobile devices.
$7.5M
dollars
saved by using the OneBox solution
5
years
saved by using the OneBox solution
“The smart pressure sewer network enabled by OneBox® allowed us to provide modern wastewater services to our residents that won’t spill, and benefits both our customers and the local environment.”
PHILLIPPE DU PLESSIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR SOUTH GIPPSLAND WATER
Little box, big benefits
“The lack of disruption to the community and our customers during construction,” says du Plessis, was “one of the greatest benefits of using the OneBox® platform.”
The cost- and time-savings were also impressive.
South Gippsland Water saved $7.5 million and 5 years by using the OneBox® solution rather than laying a traditional gravity sewer network.
Better still, the current solution has capacity for more than 1,500 properties to connect. So as these small communities grow, the network will be ready to serve each new household that comes online.
Adds du Plessis, “The smart pressure sewer network enabled by OneBox® allowed us to provide modern wastewater services to our residents that won’t spill, and benefits both our customers and the local environment.”
It’s a win-win for beautiful South Gippsland and its thriving communities.
