More desalination is coming to Australia’s driest states – but super-salty outflows could trash ecosystems and fisheries

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 12:12:30 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/more-desalination-is-coming-to-australias-driest-states-but-super-salty-outflows-could-trash-ecosystems-and-fisheries-229629>

"From around 1996 to 2010, Australia was gripped by the millennium drought. As
water shortages bit hard, most of Australia’s capital cities built large
seawater desalination plants – Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
Remote towns have also built smaller desalination plants.

Most cities didn’t actually use them much. The drought broke in 2010, and
desalinated water is expensive. The exception is Perth, which has been hit by
declining rainfall, a drying climate and overuse of groundwater. The city will
soon open its third desal plant.

As climate change intensifies, other states are also looking to build more
desal plants. In South Australia, for instance, there are plans to build one
urgently in response to looming water shortages. The Eyre Peninsula, for
instance, is expected to run out of drinking water within two years as
groundwater runs dry.

But beyond the expense, many of these plants bring environmental problems of
their own."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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