Australians face water shortage from over-extraction of great underground lake

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1101382/Australians-face-water-shortage-extraction-great-underground-lake.html

Australians face water shortage from over-extraction of great underground lake

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 1:09 PM on 24th December 2008

Australians face a dire water shortage because of excessive extraction form an underground lake the size of Libya, scientists warned today.

Falling pressure in the Great Artesian Basin – which lies 1.2 miles below ground – means less water is being forced to the surface through sources and bore holes.

If this process continues the ancient supply will be unreachable, except through costly pumping.

The basin, which covers a fifth of Australia, holds 65 million gigalitres of water, about 820 times the amount of surface water in the drought-hit country.

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[TheWraith]

1. Desalination, desalination, desalination.

They should be investing in desalination infrastructure NOW, as opposed to when it becomes critical.

[depakid]

2. Already underway- have a look:

With the official opening of the Perth Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plant in November 2006, Western Australia became the first state in the country to use desalination as a major public water source – and this may be simply the beginning. Facing a drying climate, the Water Corporation of Western Australia is actively exploring a variety of options to meet growing demands, which makes building a second SWRO facility a serious prospect to consider.

Located at Kwinana, some 25km south of the city, the new plant has an initial daily capacity of 140,000m³ with designed expansion to 250,000m³/day, making it the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere and the biggest in the world to be powered by renewable energy. Ultimately supplying 17% of Perth’s needs, the plant will be the largest single contributor to the area’s integrated water supply scheme and provide an annual 45GL, to help serve the 1.5 million population.

http://www.water-technology.net/projects/perth/


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Environmentally-based Victorian company Acquasol Pty Ltd has announced plans for Australia's third-largest desalination plant at Point Paterson, just 7km south of Port Augusta.

The fresh water produced by the desalination plant has the potential to minimise the dependence on the Morgan to Whyalla pipeline, with an opportunity for Whyalla, as well as Port Augusta and Port Pirie to capitalise on this project.

The project proposes a world first to combine solar thermal energy based power generation, desalination and commercial salt production processes in a single $370 million industrial complex.

The proposal is forging ahead in partnership with Port Augusta City Council and Origin Energy, and predicts to save thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and millions of dollars in regional water subsidies.


Much More http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?act=view_file&file_id=EC134p4.pdf


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With limited and highly variable rainfall in the catchments, the community can no longer rely on dam water storages. To increase the water supply, Sydney Water is building a desalination plant to supply up to 15% of Sydney's drinking water in the summer of 2009-10.

This new water source is important for the future because it is not dependent on rainfall.

A new wind farm is being built at Bungendore to supply the plant with 100% renewable energy.

http://www.sydneywater.com.au/ensuringthefuture/desalination/


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[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Desalination: Option or distraction for a thirsty world?

http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=106660

WWF News Centre

Desalination: Option or distraction for a thirsty world?

19 Jun 2007
Gland, Switzerland – Making drinking water out of sea water is a growing trend, but it also poses a potential threat to the environment that could exacerbate climate change, says WWF in a global review of desalination plants worldwide.

The WWF review, Making water: Desalination – option or distraction for a thirsty world?, shows that some of the driest and thirstiest places are turning to desalination. These include regions where water problems affect large, populous areas — Australia, the Middle East, Spain, the UK and US, with India and China following suit.

“Desalinating the sea is an expensive, energy-intensive and greenhouse gas emitting way to get water,” says Jamie Pittock, Director of WWF’s Global Freshwater Programme.

“It may have a place in the world's future freshwater supplies but regions still have cheaper, better and complementary ways to supply water that are less risky to the environment.”

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