Water and sewer communications network upgrade
The flood resilience of Byron Shire is being boosted with a high-speed wireless communications network linking key water and sewer plants.
As part of this upgrade, new poles holding directional antennas will be installed at five Council sites. The antennas are part of a radio network that will allow uninterrupted monitoring and control of water and sewer assets in severe weather conditions, such as floods, that might impede or disable standard networks.
New poles and antennas are being erected at:
- Brunswick Heads Sewage Treatment Plant
- Ocean Shores Sewage Treatment Plan
- Bangalow Sewage Treatment Plant
- Hayters Hill Radio Repeater Site, Bangalow Rd
- Bangalow Reservoir
What is being built?
The poles being erected are slimline steel units standing 30m high. They will carry low-powered radio antennas, creating an unobstructed, line-of-sight wireless communications link between sites.
The poles were designed for the Council wireless network and cannot be used for mobile telephone networks. The new poles and antennas are part of a wireless network that will, on completion, connect the following sites with high-speed data links:
- Ocean Shores Sewage Treatment Plant
- Tongarra Reservoir, Ocean Shores
- Brunswick Valley Sewage Treatment Plant
- Mullumbimby Azalea St Reservoir
- Mullumbimby Water Treatment Plant
- West Byron Sewage Treatment Plant
- Patterson St Reservoir, Byron Bay
- Hayters Hill repeater
- Bangalow Reservoir
- Bangalow Sewage Treatment Plant
What work is being done?
Preliminary surveying and ground testing work will began in January 2025, with construction work scheduled to begin in mid-2025.
Work onsite will involve:
- Construction of a concrete base
- Erection of one 30m steel pole
- Installation of point-to-point antennas
- Radio link commissioning and configuration
Work at each location is expected to take about two weeks to complete. During construction the equipment onsite will include:
- Tip trucks
- Cranes
- Elevated platform vehicles
- Concrete mixing trucks
Working hours will be limited to:
- 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday
- 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.
No work will be done on Sundays or public holidays. Work may occur outside regular hours under exceptional circumstances.
Council will contact residents close to worksites to provide details of the work to occur.
Why is this work being done?
We need to secure data links to sewer and water assets to maintain safe and reliable services.
Current NBN and 4G internet connections for sewer and water assets are vulnerable to disruption during extreme events. Connections to some sewer plants were disrupted during the 2022 floods, affecting Council’s ability to monitor and maintain services.
This project is supported by funding from the NSW Government Northern Rivers Water and Wastewater Repair and Recovery Program and installation work will be carried out by NSW Public Works.
Additional information about the radio network
Are these antennas different to mobile phone towers?
Yes, the antennas used in this network are different to antennas used in mobile phone networks. The antennas used in Council’s network are designed to send signals point-to-point between two fixed locations. The signals are sent in a narrow beam directly from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna.
This is different to mobile phone base station antennas, which are designed to send signals over a wide area to ground level where the customers with phones are located.
Is there any radiation risk from these antennas and this network?
Advice from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is that there appears to be no risk to members of the public from radiofrequency radiation used by these antennas as they are point-to-point antennas mounted approximately 30 m above ground.
If any hazard exists, it would likely be confined to the region directly in front and quite close to one of the antennas while they are in operation.