Dalby Town Council in south west Queensland believes it is the first Australian Local Government to set up a reverse osmosis water treatment plant. The plant will be used to convert low quality bore water to drinking water for the town.
Council’s Water and Treatment Plant Technical Supervisor, Terry Fagg, said the project would underpin the town’s water supply. The plant will desalinate water from two bores that produce a high flow of poor quality water. The reverse osmosis process involves forcing water at high pressure through a semi permeable membrane.
Before deciding to build the plant, Council considered a range of options, such as re-using and recycling sewage and stormwater. Terry Fagg travelled to the USA to see 40 reverse osmosis plants, while a total of 150 plants were considered.
The project requires the construction of an evaporation pond, which will produce around 1000 tonnes of salt each year. This pond may have additional uses, such as the farming of brine shrimp.
Terry Fagg said there was enormous potential to use reverse osmosis in other parts of Australia, but the process was not right for every situation.
The Dalby plant is expected to be finished by the end of October. Terry Fagg said he expected the plant would need to be duplicated in five years, due to existing water supplies diminishing.
