Access to cheap, good quality water is an important issue in most parts of Australia, but for South Australia — our driest State — it is critical. While enough rain falls on Adelaide to satisfy the demand for water, much of this is allowed to run off as stormwater.
City of Salisbury engineers set out to find a way of storing large volumes of stormwater runoff cheaply. They found it in the underground aquifer – a subterranean layer of porous rock which can hold water.
The aquifers beneath Salisbury had been heavily depleted through intensive agriculture and other ground water uses. In 1994 Council engineers trialled the idea of putting water back into the aquifer. The project, known as the Aquifer Recharge Bore, was successful, proving that an aquifer can be readily used to store large volumes of water for subsequent re-use.
To guard against pollution of an aquifer, the recharge bore monitors water quality and shuts down if it falls below acceptable standards.
For further information contact Director Contract Management, Colin Pitman, phone (08) 8406 8215.
