Healthy Land & Water hosted a High-Efficiency Sediment Basin Day as part of a 6-day Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Planning course run by Townsville City Council.

Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Planning course in Townsville. 

The event

The Townsville City Council, independent consultants, Department of Transport and Main Roads representatives, and construction workers attended the training day to gain practical information and background around Sediment Basin design, construction and maintenance.

As part of the training, Healthy Land & Water converted a sediment basin at the Townsville Sediment and Erosion Control Demonstration Site into a High-Efficiency Sediment (HES) Basin by constructing a forebay.

The upgrade was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology and to prove that even the most difficult dispersive soils, which Townsville is famous for, can be managed with the right mix of coagulant and flocculant.

Participants tested nasty dispersive, sodic soils from behind Lavarack Barracks after the upgrade to the Townsville Sediment and Erosion Control Demonstration Site to see the improvements.

By the end of the training, participants were able to see how High-Efficiency Sediment (HES) Basins can contribute to greater acceptance of this technology by the community of practice.