THE troubled desalination plant at Wonthaggi has hit a roadblock as thousands of valves designed to control water flow have failed.
Builders are desperately trying to meet a June 30 deadline before $1.8 million a day in penalty payments begin, but workers have warned the valves are a "substantial problem", the Herald Sun reports.
Builder Thiess Degremont has admitted the fault, saying the valves are under warranty.
But workers say the valves' failure will cause significant delays.
"The valves are actually failing, there's about a 99 per cent failure rate," a source said.
"Normally a company would just send them back to the supplier but they are still attempting to test them to reach that deadline."
Thiess Degremont was unable put a figure on the number of faulty valves.
The valves control water flow in the 150 gigalitre reverse osmosis plant.
There are almost 8000 pressure vessels in the building, which hold 55,000 membranes that purify water under high pressure.
Consumers will pay $24 billion for the desalination plant over 28 years through higher water bills, which have gone up as much as 45 per cent in the past three years.
Electrical Trades Union state secretary Dean Mighell said last year electricians were held up when they had to wait for correct cable trays and support brackets after wrong materials were supplied.
"Things have improved, but there's still a nine-to-12-month delay on that deadline," Mr Mighell said.
Serena Middleton, a Thiess Degremont spokeswoman, said the fault was picked up in final quality assurance tests.
"There are certain valves . . . which have been identified to be replaced under warranty, and we do not anticipate any impact on our program or budget," Ms Middleton said.
Thiess Degremont is slated to lose $460 million on the $5.7 billion plan.
AquaSure, the parent company, is suing the State Government for millions in losses, blaming "cyclonic" weather events for delays.
Water Minister Peter Walsh said: "Under the contract AquaSure are responsible for the design and construction of the desalination plant."
Read more on the Herald Sun.
