Reducing the cost of storing water for a city

Ensuring the New Plymouth area has enough water to cope with long, hot drought-prone summers, or with unexpected emergencies, is at the core of the cost-effective water supply augmentation project.

New Plymouth District Council wanted to ensure the city’s water supply system could cope with whatever could be thrown at it. Everything from an increasing demand for water from a growing population to having sufficient storage of water in case of emergencies or drought. To address this, the District Council implemented a major water improvement project, involving new storage and multiple pipeline links.

CH2M Beca teamed up with Fulton Hogan Civil to deliver this project. By using the most efficient solution, we reduced the cost of storing water in the city’s supply system.

It involved seven new above-ground reservoirs and connecting pipework on separate sites throughout the New Plymouth district. It allowed duplication of storage capacity at each site to maximise the water storage. The selected designs included four circular tanks with 4,450m³ capacity and three multi-cell rectangular tanks with 1,250m³ capacity.

By maximising the standardisation of design and construction through the seven different reservoir sites (and collaborating closely with Fulton Hogan Civil to choose the most efficient solution), we were able to greatly reduce the water storage costs for New Plymouth District Council. Now local residents enjoy a value-for-money solution that helps ensures they won’t run out of water when it matters most.