SEQ water grid - $1.2bn water project springs a leak as parts fail ...

Queensland government authorities failed to check the reliability of European companies that supplied 45 rusting pipe couplings for a $1.2 billion desalination plant.
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The complications for the desalination plant follow setbacks for another central plank of the $9 billion water grid, the $2.5 billion western corridor recycled water scheme.

The scheme has suffered a succession of waste water spillages, including three on one day last month, while plans to add treated effluent to drinking water supplies this month were deferred.

Industry sources said the company members of the alliance building the desalination plant -- Veolia Water, John Holland, Sinclair Knight Merz and Cardno -- had not been responsible for checking the reliability of companies that supplied the corrosive pipe couplings and other parts.

The suppliers were not vetted adequately by state government authorities because of the need to complete the plant quickly amid fears at the time that southeast Queensland could run out of water. A return to wet conditions in recent months has eased the water supply crisis.
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See - The Australian - $1.2bn water project springs a leak as parts fail.