Water demand project manager John Porter and water services manager Garry McGraw said the Lake Hayes water supply had experienced shortages during peak demand periods in recent summers and had been the subject of previous reports to the committee.
Following water shortages over the past four summers, $1.04 million was included in the 2008-09 year for constructing an additional storage reservoir at the existing reservoir site.
Consultants Connell Wagner was engaged to develop a concept design to provide additional water storage on the existing reservoir site, but initial report findings discovered the construction of additional water storage on the current site would be "problematic" because of limited available land and the need for extensive earthworks to create a building platform.
The estimated cost of constructing additional storage was between $1.3 million and $2 million, depending on the selected option, which "greatly" exceeded the budget.
Mr Porter and Mr McGraw said as a consequence, it was appropriate to broaden the range of options to improve supply reliability, which included measures to augment the supply and to reduce "excessive consumer demands".
What was agreed to at yesterday's meeting was the installation of variable speed drives (VSDs) on the existing bore field pumps, with UV modifications to increase treatment capacity, which would provide additional pumping capacity, increasing peak water production from 24 litres per second to 40 litres per second.
The VSDs would also reduce excessive pipeline stresses caused by the present pump control system.
Connell Wagner had also been asked to consider a long-term configuration for the Lake Hayes water supply.
"There are several possible future developments in the Lake Hayes Estate area and indications are that a more appropriate location for additional water storage may be in this area.
"Preliminary work has indicated a potential reservoir site with a willing landowner.
"At present, there are two council-operated water schemes in Lake Hayes. The development of a long-term strategy for the water supply will also assist in avoiding the proliferation of further stand-alone schemes."
Despite the minor capital works, a large onus would be placed on water users in the area to ensure they reduced their water consumption.
This summer, the focus would be on "public education", with particular emphasis on helping high users reduce their water consumption to less than 2.1cu m per property per day in advance of "the more stringent measures" proposed under the demand management plan.
