What’s currently happening on-site?

In mid-October 2011 small amounts (5-10 million litres) of desalinated water produced at the Adelaide Desalination Plant began to be introduced into the Happy Valley water network. This amount will continue to increase throughout 2012 until the plant reaches its full 100 billion litre capacity by the end of 2012.

The approved cost for the 100 billion litre seawater desalination plant in Adelaide is $1.824 billion.

The State Government is committed to procuring renewable energy for the Adelaide desalination plant and meeting the highest environmental standards.

In line with our sustainability commitment, the ADP buildings have been designed to create the optimum working environment with minimum energy use.
Constructing a seawater desalination plant will reduce Adelaide’s average draw on the River Murray.

What do we know about desalination in Australia?

Desalination has been used in Australia for about 20 years to treat salty groundwater and seawater. The most common technology used is reverse osmosis where high pressure forces the salty water through a membrane which acts like a fine strainer to remove salt and impurities.

You can find out more about desalination by visiting ‘What is desalination?‘ at the SA Water website.

How does the desalinated water get to our mains system?

It is intended the Water will be is pumped from the desalination plant through a new pipeline to storage tanks at Happy Valley, where it will be is combined with water from the Happy Valley water treatment plant before entering the existing water supply network.

For all the latest on the Adelaide Desalination Project and to hear SA Water staff talking about it, just visit the SA Water project page.