Introduction
Situated along the Kiewa River, Baranduda was a rural hamlet settled by German farm selectors (by way of South Australia). The pastoral runs were taken up in 1845, and the name Baranduda is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal expression relating to a swamp or water rat.
Water brought settlers to graze cattle, which led to a prosperous dairy industry. The well-wooded land at the base of the Baranduda Range saw the introduction of a sawmill, serving Wodonga with timber sleepers for railway construction. It would take 35 years for the population to warrant a school, and a further 32 years before an inter-denominational church would spring up.
Despite its ideal location (near the Murray and the future Hume dam) and attempts by the Albury Wodonga Development Corporation (established in 1974) to create a satellite township with a projected population of 30,000 within 15 years, Baranduda remains a small town and one of the most idyllic hamlets of north east Victoria.
North East Water
Baranduda is Linked to the Wodonga Reticulation
During the 1999-2000 financial year, the North East Region Water Authority undertook negotiations with the Army, who were seeking upgrades to their water and wastewater systems. Baranduda was linked to a proposed Wodonga wastewater works upgrade and to the Wodonga reticulation, along with Bandiana and Latchford Barracks.
Baranduda’s Water Supply
Today Baranduda’s water supply is from the Murray system. Water is sourced from the Wodonga Creek, an anabranch of the Murray River. Raw water is pumped 5.5 kilometres, from the Wodonga Creek to a 32 megalitre raw water storage situated at the Wodonga Water Treatment Plant.
Water is pumped from the Wodonga Water Treatment Plant into the 10 megalitre low level storage at Baranduda. There, the water is treated with pH correction and booster chlorination. The treated water from the low level storage tank supplies the low level reticulation of Bandiana and Lightwood Drive, Wodonga. Water is also pumped from the 10 megalitre low level storage to the 1.26 megalitre Baranduda high level storage, and from there it gravitates to the Baranduda high level reticulation.
Baranduda Wastewater Treatment Plant
The Baranduda Wastewater Treatment Plant is located approximately 4 kilometres to the east of Baranduda and 11 kilometres south east of Wodonga, on Whyte’s Road, Baranduda.
The Baranduda Wastewater Treatment Plant, photographed in 2015
The plant was constructed in two stages in the 1990s and uses a lagoon based treatment process. The treatment plant consists of a partially mixed aerated lagoon and aspirator, a second smaller lagoon and a large winter storage.
The plant receives domestic wastewater from Baranduda, Kiewa, Tangambalanga, Bandiana, Killara and Bonegilla and has a design capacity to service a population of 19,100. The wastewater is partially treated through a two lagoon system, with aeration in the primary lagoon. From there, the partially treated effluent is pumped from the Baranduda Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Wodonga sewerage reticulation system, where it flows to the West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment Plant and is fully treated there.
A new inlet screen was added in 2014, as well as a primary bypass line, which enabled the desludging of the primary lagoon during the 2015-16 financial year.
Inlet screen at the Baranduda Wastewater Treatment Plant
Desludging of the Primary Lagoon
The primary lagoon was air dried for two months during 2015-16, with screening of the waste occurring in the last month. 1,500 tonnes of screened biosolids were transported to West Wodonga for stockpiling, with 150 tonnes sent to landfill. The primary lagoon was then brought back online with an upgrade to the aeration to complete the works.
Before desludging
After desludging
