North East Water

The first stage of North East Water's $5 million upgrade of Mt Beauty's water supply system will soon be underway.

Earthworks for a 1-megalitre water tank, at the top of Buckland St, Tawonga South, are expected to begin this week, with completion in mid-May.

North East Water's Assets Manager, Kevin Freeman, said the storage construction was the first part of an extensive project to improve the water supply in Mt Beauty, Tawonga and Tawonga South.

"The entire project will see the construction of a new treatment plant, providing multiple barriers to protect the community and to ensure we meet our obligation to supply safe drinking water," he said.

"The tank about to be constructed will be integrated into the new plant, and will hold the treated water prior to distribution to the community."

The tank is being constructed first to enable an interim disinfection facility to be used while the plant is being built on the site of the existing building.

Tenders for the plant construction are scheduled to be advertised in March, with a commencement date towards the end of the year.

Mt Beauty, Tawonga and Tawonga South are currently supplied via a disinfection plant that uses ozone gas to remove pathogens.

Mr Freeman said the current plant did not include filtration or residual disinfection, both of which are important barriers in protecting public health.

"As a result, the community has experienced a number of boil water notices, especially during warmer weather, because of detections of E. coli and other bacteria in the system," he said.

"Such events diminish North East Water's capacity to meet our obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and have attracted ongoing concerns from the Department of Human Services.

"The new system will provide a state-of-the-art water treatment solution that will supply very high quality water to our customers in these communities."