19-09-2002

Desalination can only be 'borderline at best' as a solution to Australia's water problems, a national study has found.

Mr Geoff Moyle, from URS Australia, told the National Productive Use and Rehabilitation of Saline Lands (PUR$L) conference being held in Fremantle, Western Australia this week that desalination was not currently the answer for thirsty cities as some have suggested.

About 60 per cent of the world's desalination capacity is in the Middle East, supported by oil revenues. Australia has about one per cent of world capacity, mostly for industrial uses or remote locations.

Investigation of the three most promising methods of desalination showed that operating costs ranged from about 55 cents to $2.80 per kilolitre, the new study found.

"This compares with 40 cents to $1.05/kL for residential supplies in Western Australia and South Australia," Mr Moyle said.

The cheapest desalination option, multi-effect distillation, was only roughly comparable in cost to traditional water sources when using available heat sources, the project found. If cost of heat had to be added its price would triple.

Costs of other options such as reverse osmosis however, would be similar to mains water in some remote areas and deserved further study.

"Desalination for water supply can only be considered when traditional supplies are limited, or for special needs," Mr Moyle concluded.

The desalination study, undertaken by consultants URS Australia and managed for the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Land & Water Australia by Australia's National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP), has found desalination will become a more attractive option if the quality of Australia's water resources continues to decline.

The study explored what desalination work is being undertaken both internationally and locally, and presents an in-depth analysis of the various technologies currently available.

"There is no one 'right' desalination technology - variations in the design of each approach, such as the use of different energy sources, means there are many ways in which saline water can be desalinated," Mr Moyle said.

NDSP National Manager Richard Price said the costs from dryland salinity were increasingly extending to the quality and availability of water supplies for domestic and industrial purposes.

Mr Price said one of the consequences of the many options for managing dryland salinity is that excess saline water needs either disposal or recycling for other purposes.

"This new project provides options for making the by-products of salinity management solutions, such as excess water, useful for other purposes," he said. "It shows the economics of treating this by-product will, in many cases, often influence the overall economics of salinity management strategies.

This is one of the many rural, economic, environmental and social outcomes to emerge from the national PUR$L conference, being held in Fremantle and regional areas of Western Australia this week.

Other highlights from the conference include:

• Launch of the wool industry's $9 million Sustainable Grazing on Saline Lands initiative by Australian Wool Innovation Ltd Managing Director Col Dorber;
• Numerous case studies of farmers and communities profiting from productive managing of land and water resources affected by dryland salinity;
• Analysis of new research investigating groundwater use;
• Business and economic opportunities from saline land and water resources;
• Potential of agroforestry using saline land and water resources;
• 'Stepping into the unknown' - the future of salinity research and development in Australia; and
• 'Shaken, Not Stirred - the Man with the Golden Salt' - the intriguing title of a Hypothetical featuring a high-profile panel including a hydrogeologist, lawyer, banker, farm advisor, saline land and water productive uses specialist, a conservationist and a farmer arguing different views in an entertaining and thought-provoking debate.

The reports Introduction to desalination technologies in Australia and Economic and Technical Assessment of Desalination Technologies in Australia can be accessed on-line at http://www.napswq.gov.au/publications/index.html
ENDS

Further information:

Please contact Land & Water Australia
Email: land&wateraustralia@lwa.gov.au
Phone: 02 6263 6000