FAQ
What is recycled water?
What is purified water?
What is desalinated water?
Is recycled, purified and desalinated water presently in use?
Why is recycled, purified and desalinated water being used?
What are the benefits of recycling and reusing water?
How can recycled, purified and desalinated water be used?
Where does purified and desalinated water come from?
Is purified recycled and desalinated water safe to drink?
Are there guidelines for purified recycled and desalinated water use?
How much power does the Desal plant use?
Is the discharge from the desalination plant affecting the marine environment?
What is recycled water?
What is purified water?
After wastewater is processed at secondary treatment plants it can be purified to the highest standard. New advanced water purification plants can remove minerals, nutrients, organic matter and bacteria. The highest grade of water – even purer than drinking water – can be produced using technologies of microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light. It can be used for kidney dialysis and industrial processes such as pharmaceutical or boiler feed water. Purified water is so clean and safe that, if needed, it can be blended with reservoir water to increase our drinking water supply.
What is desalinated water?
Desalination is a technology that separates dissolved salts and other minerals from seawater or other salty water to provide clean drinking water. Modern desalination plants use a process called reverse osmosis, which involves the removal of salts and other minerals out of the water as it moves through a membrane process (moving through many thin sheets of material) under high pressure. Desalinated water is often used to supplement drinking water supplies in many countries, including some Australian cities and towns.
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Is recycled, purified and desalinated water presently in use?
Recycled water is already being used in a wide range of applications, including the irrigation of agriculture, parklands and golf courses. Purified water is being used in South East Queensland by Tarong and Swanbank power stations, and there are a large number of potential agricultural and industrial users. Current state government policy is for purified water to be added to Wivenhoe Dam should the region's combined dam water level fall below 40 per cent. Many areas of the Gold Coast and Brisbane receive a blend of dam and desalinated water, however daily supply (production) and demand will result in blend variations throughout different areas of the water supply network.
Why is recycled, purified and desalinated water being used?
Water is a precious resource, yet less than 10 per cent of Australia's urban and industrial water is recycled. As South East Queensland grows in population, and to protect our water supply from future droughts, water recycling, purification and desalination is a socially, environmentally and economically viable solution to help preserve our drinking water supplies. Currently, almost 2.8 million people live in South East Queensland and this figure could increase to more than 6 million by 2056. Even with significant new efficiency measures to reduce water consumption, this sustained level of population growth is substantially increasing the region's demand for water. Purified water, along with desalination, is expected to provide up to 30% of our water supply by 2056.
What are the benefits of recycling and reusing water?
Recycled water has many benefits. It reduces the demand on fresh water and makes use of a precious resource that currently goes to waste. The major benefit of water purification and desalination is that it can continue to deliver high quality drinking water for consumption, even during periods of drought. It also provides an alternative source of water that will make our overall supply more diverse and less vulnerable to interruption. Water recycling and purification schemes protect the environment by reducing the discharge of treated effluent into wetlands, rivers, bays and the ocean. The purification process for purified water will significantly reduce the release of nutrients and other environmentally detrimental compounds to Brisbane River and Moreton Bay.
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How can recycled, purified and desalinated water be used?
In general terms, most recycled water can be used for crops such as tree plantations, vineyards and general agriculture, and irrigation of golf courses and parklands under controlled conditions. With further treatment, higher grade recycled water can be used on an unrestricted basis for horticulture, irrigation of market gardens and open space recreation, and for garden watering and toilet flushing through dual pipe residential development schemes. In future, the highest quality (often called 6-star) recycled water from advanced water purification plants can be added, if needed, to dams and reservoirs to increase our drinking water supply. Desalinated water from the Gold Coast Desalination Plant is already added directly to our water supply. All purified and desalinated water passes through numerous safety checks and water quality treatment systems.
Read more about the 6-star water rating system (link).
Where does purified and desalinated water come from?
In metropolitan Brisbane, the source for purified recycled water is from WaterSecure's three advanced treatment facilities – at Bundamba, Luggage Point and Gibson Island – which provide large amounts of purified water all year round. These plants are part of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project and are part of the South East Queensland Water Grid. The plants use world class technology and can produce up to 232 million litres a day of purified recycled water, which is equivalent to 93 Olympic-size swimming pools.
The Gold Coast Desalination Plant at Tugun began supplying water in February 2009 and connects to the South East Queensland Water Grid. The plant can supply up to 133 megalitres of desalinated water a day.
Is purified recycled and desalinated water safe to drink?
Yes. Both purified recycled water and desalinated water undergo high standards of treatment to ensure they are safe. There are standards and regulations that apply for their use. Regular monitoring and reporting is required to ensure the water being supplied is of the highest quality.
Our water currently meets the requirements of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and will continue to do so as desalinated water is added to the water grid. Queensland's Water Supply (Quality and Reliability) Act also regulates the use of purified recycled water.
Purified recycled water and desalinated water is clear and odourless.
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Are there guidelines for purified recycled and desalinated water use?
Yes. Purified recycled water and desalinated water can be safely used for a variety of purposes appropriate to the level of treatment they have undergone, in accordance with Queensland's Water Supply (Quality and Reliability Act).
The Western Corridor Recycled Water's purified water undergoes rigorous testing supervised by Queensland Health and the Department of Environment and Resource Management. Both these agencies must authorise its release into Wivenhoe Dam.
Queensland Health has developed health-based water quality criteria for purified water, based on national guidelines and recommendations from peak health bodies such as the World Health Organisation and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
How much power does the Desal plant use?
Modern desalination plants use advanced technology and energy saving devices which result in being far less energy intensive than traditional plants. The plant's use of energy saving devices — which recover up to 97 per cent of the unused energy from the brine — combined with carbon offsets and reduced energy consumption put it among the best performers in terms of energy for desalination plants worldwide.
The Gold Coast Desalination Plant has the capacity to produce 133 million litres of drinking water a day. To produce a million litres of water, the plant consumes about 3.2 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy. So at full production, the plant consumes about 412.3MWh of energy per day, making it one of the most energy-efficient desalination plants in the world.
Read more about energy use at the desalination plant (link).
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Is the water discharged from the desalination plant affecting the marine environment?
No. The plant has been designed to minimise any potential impacts on marine ecology and considerable effort has been placed on ensuring the quality of the marine environment. The long-term independent marine monitoring program being undertaken at the Tugun Desalination Plant shows that the plant is operating in compliance with the environmental license conditions which have been developed to prevent environmental impacts.
Small plants and animals that live on the ocean floor are key indicators of a healthy environment because they are long-term residents - rather than moving in and out as more mobile organisms such as fish do. Results show these small plants and animals to be thriving on and around the marine structures. Underwater footage shows that the marine structures are providing a habitat for a diverse variety of marine organisms, effectively creating an artificial reef. Some of the footage can be viewed here (link to footage).
When Channel 9's Paul Burt dived there recently, he said: "The amount of fish congregating in that area is simply amazing! There's thousands upon thousands of fish from bait fish up to big kingfish and I even saw some big groper, tailor, bream, the list goes on. It's full of life; there's even soft corals down there".
WaterSecure is meeting its environmental and regulatory responsibilities through its ongoing monitoring around the desalination plant's marine structures. Independent experts from Griffith University were instrumental in setting up the rigorous water quality testing regime and analysing data. The marine monitoring programs were designed in conjunction with the Department of Environment and Resource Management and an independent third party expert.
The marine monitoring program is based on sound science and includes continuous, real-time monitoring of the quality of the brine discharged back into the ocean. The monitoring undertaken includes measurement of pH, chlorine, dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity, suspended solids and salinity.
Further monitoring of the marine life and sediments on the seabed is also undertaken. This is done by sampling a selection of around 60 parcels of seabed, which are then taken back to a laboratory and analysed to determine health, numbers and diversity of seabed based marine organisms.
In conjunction with this scientific program, regular visual monitoring around the marine structures is undertaken and shows marine life is abundant and diverse indicating they are unaffected by brine discharged from the desalination plant. Underwater footage shows that the marine structures are providing a habitat for a diverse variety of marine organisms, effectively creating an artificial reef.
View underwater footage of the inlet and outlet and see the marine life for yourself.
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