Sydney Desalination Plant at Kurnell to double in size
The state government is drawing up plans to double the size of the controversial Sydney Desalination Plant as the water crisis gripping the state shows no signs of breaking, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. TAKE AN EXCLUSIVE TOUR AND SEE HOW IT WORKS
Sydney’s desalination plant could be expanded to twice its current capacity under plans to cope with the growing water crisis.
With dam levels falling one and a half times faster than during the 2001-2009 Millennium drought, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the state government has been drafting plans to increase output from 250 million litres a day to 500 million litres.
The plant, which was turned on for only the second time in January, reached maximum capacity two weeks ago and is currently pumping water to 1.5 million households south of the Harbour, from Bankstown to Bondi.
However, that might not be enough. With water storage this week expected to fall to 50 per cent capacity, the fastest drop in the city’s water supplies since the 1940s, a $5 million study has been launched into expanding the site at Kurnell, in Sydney’s south.
The plans are expected to be finished in February when the government will decide whether to start the estimated two-year construction.
The desal plant already has environmental and planning approval to desalinate twice as much water and there is enough space at the site.
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The operators have begun negotiations with contractors for the expansion and will soon seek finance, according to chief executive Keith Davies.
Households pay between $25 and $30 extra a year when the plant is running, over and above the $85 it costs just to keep the lights on. However, water bills would rise further to pay for an expansion, water minister Melinda Pavey said.
“We haven‘t done final costings but the cost will be borne out in water rates,” Ms Pavey said.
“Since we have been in government we have reduced Sydney’s water rates from the highest in capital cities to the lowest, and we always want to be respectful of our citizens.
“But there comes a time where you can’t live without water.
“I hope the desalination plant isn’t expanded, I hope it rains. But if it doesn’t we need an insurance policy.”
However, Ms Pavey added that there was an argument for doubling the desalination plant regardless of whether the drought breaks before the project is shovel ready, so as to be prepared for future droughts.
Following record high temperatures and with 2018 being the hottest summer since 1910, Sydney dams have dropped from around 90 per cent to 50 per cent in only two years.
Built between 2007 and 2010 when dam levels dropped to 33.7 per cent, the Sydney Desalination Plant filters salt from the waters of Botany Bay via reverse osmosis.
The treated water then runs through a pipe under Botany Bay and between the domestic and international airport to Erskineville, where it’s mixed with treated dam water.
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The fresh water produced by the desalination plant is so clean it is completely tasteless, but chlorine and fluoride are added to meet Australian drinking water guidelines.
The plant was mothballed in 2012 until January 27 this year, when dam levels dropped to 60 per cent.
Sydney Water has only fielded three complaints about the taste of desalinated water since the plant was restarted — and all of those were from households that were actually still on dam water.
Desalination is currently cheaper and more palatable to drink than recycled sewage, according to Ms Pavey.
Sewage, which is water that goes down toilets, sinks and drains, accounts for 8 per cent of Sydney’s water but it doesn’t come through household taps.
Recycled sewage is used to water gardens, golf courses and parks, flush toilets, fight fires, make iron and steel at BlueScope Steel at Port Kembla and supplement the river flow in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River.
Mother of three Georgina Chirnside and her family have been drinking desalinated water at their Randwick home for months without even realising it.
Since mid-March, desalinated water has been mixed with treated dam water and piped into homes across the eastern suburbs.
There is no discernible difference between dam water and desalinated water.
“I had no idea I was drinking desalinated water but I’m happy with the quality of water coming out of the tap,” Mrs Chirnside said.
“We mainly drink of the tap, we don’t drink a lot of bottled or mineral water.”
The Chirnside family used to be liberal with their water use, but bill shock prompted them to install an automated sprinkler system in their garden to reduce their consumption.
Sydneysiders typically guzzle 215 litres of water per person each day, compared to Melburnians who average 160 litres.
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