Chapter 3
I Background
II Early European Settlements
III Assessment Of Available Water Resources
IV Water Supplies For Goldmining Development
V Irrigation Development
VI Farm And Stock Water Supplies
VII Urban Water Supplies
i Reticulation systems
ii Water treatment
iii Water saving techniques
iv Desalination
v Conjunctive use - West Pilbara water supply
vi Conjunctive use - Newcastle and district water supply scheme
vii Olympic Dam mining project - water supply
viii Urban water supply dams in South Australia
ix Multi-purpose schemes - the Wivenhoe project
VIII Wastewater Management And Treatment
IX Water Quality Management
X Limnological And Water Quality Research
XI New Techniques In Water Resource Planning And Management
XII Legislation
XIII Conclusion
XIV List Of Abbreviations
XV Acknowledgements
XVI Plantations-high Productivity Resources
References
Index
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Desalination
Desalination of saline or brackish water for domestic and industrial use is employed in some sixty locations around Australia, mainly in small plants associated with isolated mining and tourist developments. Plant capacities range up to 2,000 m3/d, and the principal processes in use are multiple stage flash (MSF), vertical tube evaporation (VTE) and reverse osmosis (RO).The relatively high cost of desalination has militated against its use for large population centres, but the conjunctive use of desalination plants and surface reservoirs, with desalination supplementing conventional supplies in drought periods, has been investigated as a possible solution to the future needs of cities such as Adelaide.
Processes used in Australia for the desalination of sea water have been, in essence, developed from overseas technology. There is an urgent need for alternatives which can be used for small-scale operations in remote coastal areas, and require less energy and capital than current methods.
Desalination of brackish water, of which Australia has large reserves, promises to become more attractive with the development by CSIRO of the Sirotherm process. This process, which requires a supply of low-grade heat, employs resins which can be regenerated by heat. Sirotherm may have future application on a large scale for major urban settlements, but its first field use is likely to be in the removal of 500 to 1,000 mg/l of dissolved solids from brackish waters used for the supply of remote developments in arid regions.
Organisations in Australian Science at Work - CSIRO
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© 1988 Print Edition page 175, Online Edition 2000
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