Australia

Water Corporation investigates future water sources for Perth – Australia

RECYCLED groundwater and storm water are being considered to top up Perth’s long term water supply as Water Corporation rolls forward desalination plant proposals.

As the environmental assessment for a desalination plant in Perth’s north reached its third stage, the utility flagged it was also starting to investigate more groundwater replenishment and storm water options.

In early May, WA’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) approved Water Corporation’s environmental scoping document for a potential seawater desalination plant in Alkimos.

Groundwater desalination on farms in Western Australia – Australia

Groundwater in the Western Australian grainbelt is a potential resource for on-farm water self sufficiency. However, most groundwater in this environment is saline to some degree, and is often not suitable for livestock or other on-farm uses.

Desalination, the process to remove much of the salt from saline water sources, could produce less-saline water for livestock, crop spraying, horticulture and domestic uses.

This page provides information on desalination – with reverse osmosis (RO) systems – of groundwater on farms in the Western Australian grainbelt.

SA Water to build solar farm on former oil refinery site – Australia

Nothing says energy transition quite like a renewable energy facility being built on an old fossil fuel asset. Solar farms have been built on or near several old coal plants, and now the South Australia state government utility SA Water plans to build a new solar farm with more than 35,000 solar PV panels on the site of a former oil refinery.

SA Water said on Thursday that it has agreed to purchase 14 hectares of land at the former ExxonMobil Port Stanvac oil refinery, next to the Adelaide Desalination Plant which the solar farm will help power. and as part of the utility’s push to a “zero cost energy future” that involves more than 150MW of solar across dozens of sites, and 34 megawatt hours of battery storage.

The ExxonMobil refinery was closed in 2003 and demolished in 2014, and the overall 240 hectare site is being remediated to pave the way for other industry activity.

Ontario Teachers and UTA acquire TIF’s Sydney desalination plant stake – Ontario

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and the Utilities Trust of Australia (UTA) have increased their ownership stakes in the Sydney Desalination Plant (SDP) to 60% and 40% respectively.

Ontario Teachers and Morrison & Co, on behalf of UTA, said they have increased their holdings in SDP with their acquisition of The Infrastructure Fund’s (TIF) ownership stake in the plant. Financial details were undisclosed.

SPD, which is Sydney’s only non-rain dependent source of drinking water, supplies up to 15% of the Australian city’s needs.

Gradiant Expands into Australia with Acquisition of CRS Water – Australia

Gradiant today announced its acquisition of Sydney based CRS Water Pty. Ltd, marking the company’s expansion into Australia.

The acquisition enables Gradiant to leverage its proprietary technologies and strong financing capabilities alongside CRS’s project delivery expertise, access to industrial customers, and relationships with leading contractors, corporations and municipalities, facilitating access to Australia’s burgeoning water market.

Bill Kelly, the managing director and founder of CRS Water will continue to lead the company for a two-year transitional period.

Drought remains ‘diabolical’ for most of NSW – Australia

More than 99 per cent of the state remains in drought, despite record rainfall in Sydney which will see the desalination plant switched off next month and water restrictions wound back.

As Sydney recovers from the worst drought on record, the situation is still “diabolical” for most of the state, in what is likely to create tensions in the Coalition ahead of the May budget.

Data presented to the government this week shows 99.4 per cent of NSW is still in drought, with about one-third in the highest category – “intense drought”.

Heavy rains are great news for Sydney’s dams, but they come with a big caveat – Australia

Throughout summer, Sydney’s water storage level fell alarmingly. Level 2 water restrictions were imposed and the New South Wales government prepared to double the capacity of its desalination plant.

But then it began to rain, and rain. Sydney water storages jumped from 41% in early February to 75% now – the highest of any capital city in Australia.This is great news for the city, but it comes with a big caveat.

Floodwaters will undoubtedly wash bushfire debris into reservoirs—possibly overwhelming water treatment systems. We must prepare now for that worst-case pollution scenario.

Rain could delay plans to double Sydney’s desal plant capacity – Australia

Warragamba Dam is set to jump above 50 per cent capacity due to heavy rainfall, which means that the implementation of a plan by the NSW government to double the capacity of the Sydney Desalination Plant could be delayed.

Earlier this year, NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey directed the operators of the plant to prepare for an expansion “as quickly as practicable” in the context of drought and fast-dropping dam levels.

However the $1 billion project will only proceed from the planning to action stages should dam levels hit certain “trigger points”.

Desalination plants are a critical part of our future – Australia

With water restrictions increasing around NSW and talk about Sydney moving to level three sanctions, people are starting to ask what happens if the city’s water supply becomes critically low?

The prognosis is not good.

Long-term climate forecasts show the drought continuing for a long time. In addition, our population is increasing and recent per capita water usage rates have actually increased.

Australia faces falling inflows even as demand for water grows – Australia

Reservoirs across Australia are recording dwindling inflows as the climate warms and dries, a trend that is likely to continue and force cities, including Melbourne and Sydney, to bolster the security of water supplies.

A new study by University of NSW scientists published in the Water Resources Research journal examined streamflow data for 222 catchments and applied six of the latest climate models. All models forecast drops in supply.

“We are looking at an average of 20 per cent reduced reliability in the future across all the catchments considered,” said Ashish Sharma, a professor at UNSW’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and an author of the report.

Archive