How does a council make the quality of its tap water so good it’s award winning?
One of the reasons — they consistently dose it with activated carbon to alleviate taste and odour issues associated with the Richmond River.
At the Casino Water Treatment Plant, the team is always looking at ways to improve the water quality and taste for residents. And it’s paid off.
Casino was awarded the top honour at the annual Water Industry Operators’ Association of Australia conference in Newcastle yesterday, Wednesday, July 23.
The judges did blind taste tests on samples from 10 competing water utilities and judged them on colour, clarity, odour and mouthfeel.
Casino was declared the winner over Sydney Water and Central Coast, earning it a spot in the national showdown, competing for the Australian title in November. 
Richmond Valley Council general manager Vaughan Macdonald said the entire Water and Sewer team, and Casino Water Treatment Plant operators worked hard to provide a quality service to customers across Richmond Valley.
Mr Macdonald said the town water supply was pumped through 2.3km of pipeline to reach the treatment plant on the outskirts of Casino.
He said servicing a community of more than 12,000 people, the plant was monitored 24 hours a day.
“We average a supply of six megalitres a day, with the capacity to provide 23 megalitres,” Mr Macdonald said.
“The plant is a standard coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process, with the filter media being a standard sand and filter coal configuration.”
Mr Macdonald said pumping from the Richmond River source brought its own sets of challenges including blue-green algae and manganese.
“We are full-time dosing with activated carbon to alleviate taste and odour issues associated with the Richmond River,” he said.
“We also increase the activated carbon dose during summer months when dealing with blue-green algae. Potassium permanganate is periodically dosed for manganese issues.”
Mr Macdonald said the plant was in the process of trialling enhanced coagulation to further reduce natural organic material.
“The benefit is having to use less chlorine and minimising by-products in the drinking water,” he said.
This is the second state level win for the Casino team. They took top honours in 2020.
The following year, Casino officially became home to the country’s best tap water, winning the 2021 Best Tasting Tap Water in Australia competition.
In 2024, Council’s Operations Supervisor – Water and Sewer Services, David Cash, won the prestigious Operator of the Year award.
This information was provided by Richmond Valley Council.