Perth May Build ​Third Desalination Plant to ​Fight Dry ​Winters ​

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Perth May Build ​Third Desalination Plant to ​Fight Dry ​Winters ​

A decision to build Perth’s third desalination plant may need to be taken within 18 months if the city’s dams fail to get any run-off from winter rains.

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The Southern Seawater Desalination Plant in Binningup.Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australia

The State-owned utility said that plunging winter rainfall and almost non-existent run-off into Perth’s reservoirs were threatening to force its hand on the timing of a new major water source for the city.

It came as the Water Corporation’s former chief operating officer, Peter Moore, said the utility would have to “look fairly closely” at boosting the water system unless it rained adequately over the next two winters.

Last month, Water Minister Dave Kelly conceded that the cash-strapped State Government might soon have to shell out $1 billion-plus on another desalination plant to safeguard the city’s drinking supplies.

As of yesterday, Perth’s dams were 30 per cent full but had received just 1.5 billion litres of inflow so far this winter, well short of an already lowered annual target of 25 billion litres.

On top of this, much of the water stored in the dams had been “banked” there from the Water Corp’s existing desalination plants at Kwinana and Binningup, north of Bunbury.

 

Ashley Vincent, the Water Corp’s general manager of assets planning, said the utility had not been expecting to build a major new source of water for “at least” another five years.

But a dry start to winter and expectations of below average rainfall this year meant that might need to be fast-tracked, he said. Mr Vincent said while part of the solution lay in encouraging people to use less water, new sources could include desalination plants in Perth’s north or south or more recycling.

“We will consider desalination plants to the north and south of Perth, and the possible expansion of groundwater replenishment,” Mr Vincent said.

Read more: The West Australian

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