Introduction
It’s thought that Kiewa is an Aboriginal name meaning “sweet water”.
We know that the Lagoon Hotel was constructed in 1859 and farm selectors arrived five years later, attracted to the numerous lagoons and anabranches that sprung from the Kiewa River.
The river flats were suited to dairy herds and in 1893 the Kiewa Butter Factory was opened (it later became the North Eastern Dairy Company and then part of the Murray Goulburn dairy conglomerate). A large orchard and cool store were established in 1908 and 1913, and the irrigated Kiewa Valley orchards were established in 1924, one of the first in Victoria.
North East Water
When the Kiewa Murray Region Water Authority was constituted in 1994 it became responsible for Kiewa and Tangambalanga’s water and wastewater services. By 1994 the Authority was providing untreated water to a population of 690 in the Kiewa / Tangambalanga area but was not yet providing wastewater services.
During the 1995-96 financial year, Kiewa Murray Water constructed a 1.5 megalitre water storage. The following year, the North East Region Water Authority became responsible for Kiewa’s water and wastewater service and began looking into a water treatment facility, with commissioning due by 1999.
Kiewa’s Water Supply
Kiewa/Tangambalanga was connected to the Wodonga reticulation in November 1999 through a supply pipeline from Wodonga. Water is treated at the Wodonga water treatment plant and flows through the supply pipeline to a 10 megalitre tank at Baranduda. From there, the water flows through a 14 kilometre long pipe to a 1.5 megalitre tank at Tangambalanga.
The Tangambalanga tank is filled to a seasonal set point, at which supply is shut off through the closure of an automatic control valve. The valve is located on the supply line between the towns of Kiewa and Tangambalanga; when the valve is closed Kiewa is supplied from Baranduda and Tangambalanga is supplied from the storage tank. The valve re-opens when the Tangambalanga tank falls to a pre-determined level.
Wastewater
During its first year of operation, the North East Region Water Authority formed the Kiewa / Tangambalanga Sewerage Scheme Consultative Committee. The Committee assisted with the exchange of information between the community, contractors and the Authority during the construction of the sewerage scheme. The wastewater reticulation scheme was commissioned in November 1998, and was completed during the 1998-99 financial year.
Over time the Wodonga sewerage system was expanded to include Kiewa-Tangambalanga. Wastewater from the gravity reticulation in Tangambalanga is pumped through a wet well submersible arrangement across the Kiewa River to the Kiewa pump station. The pump station transfers wastewater from Kiewa and Tangambalanga along 12 kilometres to a large gravity main upstream of the Baranduda lagoons. The Baranduda wastewater treatment plant receives the domestic waste from Kiewa, where it is partially treated through a two lagoon system. From the Baranduda wastewater treatment plant, the wastewater is sent to the West Wodonga Wastewater treatment plant for full treatment, after which it is either used for reuse or discharged to the river.
