A Climate-Resilient Water Supply
Perth’s Groundwater Replenishment Scheme is nearing completion, ensuring the city has a climate independent water source.
Enhancing underground storage of water is a practical measure to augment the availability of freshwater and to enhance resilience to climate change. The measure, Managed Aquifer Recharge, involves building infrastructure and/or modifying the landscape to intentionally enhance groundwater recharge.
Perth’s Groundwater Replenishment Scheme
Perth’s 14 GL/year Groundwater Replenishment Scheme (GWRS) was approved for commissioning in 2014 following a successful three-year Beenyup Groundwater Replenishment Trial. In 2016, the Liberal National Government’s Water Forever 10-year water supply plan for Perth called for the scheme to double its capacity to 28 GL/year by 2020, with Water Corporation investing $232 million through the utility’s existing capital works program. The GWRS will potentially supply up to 20% of Perth’s drinking water needs by 2060.
The GWRS is designed to treat recycled water from the Beenyup Wastewater Treatment Plant to a level of purity that is equal to or greater than drinking water quality before the water is injected into the Leederville and Yarragadee aquifers for later abstraction for drinking water. The GWRS’ key treatment process is:
- Secondary treated wastewater from the Beenyup Wastewater Treatment Plant is pumped to an Advanced Water Recycling Plant where it is further treated
- Water that enters the Advanced Water Recycling Plant is treated by passing through three barriers: ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis, and disinfection with ultra-violet light
- Once water has passed through the three barriers it is as pure as drinking water and it is injected into groundwater for storage
- Through a series of monitoring bores, the stored water in the groundwater is then pumped out for sampling and testing
As part of the GWRS expansion, a $52 million upgrade to the Neerabup Groundwater Treatment Plant is underway that will increase the capacity of the current plant from 100 million litres of water treated per day to 150 million litres of water treated per day. With the upgrade due for completion in late 2020, this is the final piece of the GWRS expansion to ensure Perth has a climate independent water source.
The take-out
Developing alternative water sources is key to building climate-resilient cities.
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