A LAUNCESTON alderman has come out swinging at TasWater after the organisation said it may have to respond to enforced price changes with a delay in major works.
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The Economic Regulator's 2015 Water and Sewerage Price Determination Investigation, which was handed down last week, projected an increase to fixed water charges as the state moves towards one amount across all regions.
TasWater chairman Miles Hampton responded that the determination could mean that the organisation would have to delay or hold some of its major projects, including the Launceston Sewerage Improvement Project.
Launceston alderman Ted Sands said there was no excuse for not getting such projects done as quickly as possible.
"We're not Bangladesh: we're living in Australia in 2015," he said.
"They need to rejig what we need to look at and we need to look at our top priorities.
"(The sewerage system) has been in a state of malaise for that long - we need to fix the problem and fix the boiled water alerts around the state.
"We need to get our sewerage system fixed. We have to."
A TasWater spokesman said the organisation faced multiple challenges in bringing the state's water and sewerage infrastructure up to a standard that met environmental and health regulations.
"The regulator's price determination last week brings the timing and funding of these longer term, larger projects into question beyond 2018," he said.
"There are currently projects under way involving overflow mitigation solutions for the Tamar River, including grit removal in the combined system, that are being progressed with part-funding from the federal government."