Wellington Dam wastewater Reverse Osmosis Desalination proposal

The proposal involves reusing the saline scour water currently released to the sea,  in a bid to freshen the dam water.  This scour water would be taken from Wellington Dam down the side of the Darling Scarp to Brunswick Junction, a distance of approximately 20 km.   At Brunswick the saline water would be treated through a reverse osmosis plant before being piped to Harvey, a further 20 km away.

The head pressure of Wellington Dam above the reverse osmosis plant is sufficient to treat the water and change its current 1500 ppm salt content to a meagre 50 ppm.  There is also sufficient pressure still available to transport  the water by pipeline to Harvey.

The Agritech proposal has been privately funded and requires no Government contribution to the capital cost.   The project could supply 45 GL of water to the Government under a long term contract at a price that equates to a saving of at least 50% on the Kwinana RO option and 33% cheaper than the Yarragadee groundwater extraction.

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