Bolivar Water Recycling Plant

[rhino]

From the Stock Journal, 17 Nov 2015:

A proposed water recycling scheme north of Adelaide is predicted to create up to 1000 new primary production jobs.

Water and the River Murray Minister Ian Hunter said the State Government has identified up to 20 gigalitres of additional recycled water from its Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant that can be used by growers and other water users in the Northern Adelaide Plains region.

“The State Government in August called for expressions of interest from private enterprise for the collection and distribution of this additional 20gL of treated water from the plant," he said.

“The Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme (NAIS), would help provide great economic benefit to the Northern Adelaide Plains region and wider SA community.”

Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said the Northern Adelaide Plains region was ripe for growth.

“The Federal Government’s ‘Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper’ identified the waste water re-use expansion in the Northern Adelaide Plains as a potential project for SA,” he said.

“Supporting producers in the Northern Adelaide Plains region with a project of this nature has the potential to significantly increase exports and grow the existing local agricultural industry.

“The State Government is committed to supporting our primary producers to use natural resources more efficiently and sustainably, and to expand their businesses and market presence.”

The Virginia Pipeline Scheme delivers about 17gL of recycled water per year from the Bolivar WWTP to more than 400 growers north of Adelaide.

“The pipeline scheme is at capacity in summer, but there is potential to store recycled water produced in winter for use during the drier months,” Mr Hunter said.

“Of the 20gL identified, 8gL is produced in summer and its use is dependent on additional infrastructure.

“The availability of the remaining 12gL generated in winter is subject to storage.

“This could be above or below ground, or a combination of both, and that’s one of the things SA Water is currently consulting with the local community and other stakeholders about.

“To deliver additional water to the region from Bolivar, we need the support of industry and the community.

“The community engagement process together with the EOI will enable us to understand the issues and opportunities, and deliver a sustainable solution that benefits the region and the state.”

EOIs need to be lodged by November 24 via the SA Tenders and Contracts website.

[Ho Really]

Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said the Northern Adelaide Plains region was ripe for growth.

It is ripe for growth if you stop building on the little arable land we have. These people need to start pulling their fingers out of their rear end. Every year gigalitres of water is wasted into the Gulf. We have concreted every imaginable green space, by sub-dividing blocks etc., and not harvested enough of the water that falls there. Let's hope the drought we'll have this year opens the eyes of some. There are opportunities for employment and benefits for the environment.

Cheers

[monotonehell]

...It is ripe for growth if you stop building on the little arable land we have...

Totally. Almost every city does this - expands over arable land. It's self destructive.

The only exception of sorts that I can think about is the UK's policy of greenbelts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bel ... d_Kingdom)

[Goodsy]

Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said the Northern Adelaide Plains region was ripe for growth.

It is ripe for growth if you stop building on the little arable land we have. These people need to start pulling their fingers out of their rear end. Every year gigalitres of water is wasted into the Gulf. We have concreted every imaginable green space, by sub-dividing blocks etc., and not harvested enough of the water that falls there. Let's hope the drought we'll have this year opens the eyes of some. There are opportunities for employment and benefits for the environment.

Cheers

Eyes won't be opened this drought because we've got a shiny new desal plant(Thank god). I can't wait for it to start sticking its finger up at the naysayers.

What we need is regional passenger trains to the towns up north like Kapunda, Balaklava, Port Wakefield and Clare, Perhaps even go further north up to Port Pirie. They're not going to be able to develop anything if nobody is willing to live out there without work but you could entice some if those towns were within commuting distance of Adelaide, or each other.

[Ho Really]

Eyes won't be opened this drought because we've got a shiny new desal plant(Thank god). I can't wait for it to start sticking its finger up at the naysayers.

Not sure what the naysayers have been saying about the desal plant, but spending (that) money on projects that harvested water would've been better value. It has cost us money for not being used and is only a partial solution. Desal plants need energy to run on and need to be constantly maintained. Harvesting water from storms would've been a better proposition from the start. By this time we would've had plenty in reserve. I hope whomever is government in future looks at this seriously.

What we need is regional passenger trains to the towns up north like Kapunda, Balaklava, Port Wakefield and Clare, Perhaps even go further north up to Port Pirie. They're not going to be able to develop anything if nobody is willing to live out there without work but you could entice some if those towns were within commuting distance of Adelaide, or each other.

All futile if these towns are without water.

Cheers

[rubberman]

Eyes won't be opened this drought because we've got a shiny new desal plant(Thank god). I can't wait for it to start sticking its finger up at the naysayers.

Not sure what the naysayers have been saying about the desal plant, but spending (that) money on projects that harvested water would've been better value. It has cost us money for not being used and is only a partial solution. Desal plants need energy to run on and need to be constantly maintained. Harvesting water from storms would've been a better proposition from the start. By this time we would've had plenty in reserve. I hope whomever is government in future looks at this seriously.

What we need is regional passenger trains to the towns up north like Kapunda, Balaklava, Port Wakefield and Clare, Perhaps even go further north up to Port Pirie. They're not going to be able to develop anything if nobody is willing to live out there without work but you could entice some if those towns were within commuting distance of Adelaide, or each other.

All futile if these towns are without water.

Cheers

As far as I am aware, water harvesting is already being figured into water usage for the future in SA. Just like the desal plant, it's part of a portfolio of the state's water resources. As far as not being used, that's an ongoing problem with any system of peak demands power, water, roads, telecoms. Much of the system capacity is needed only for the peak day or week of the year. Viewed that way, most of our power generation and networks are grossly oversized and needed for maybe a couple of hours on the hottest day.

But that's just the way it is: either do without the use of the service on peak periods, or we accept that these facilities will be idle in between peaks. Nobody's volunteering to do without on the peak days, so idle capital it is.

[monotonehell]

Not sure what the naysayers have been saying about the desal plant, but spending (that) money on projects that harvested water would've been better value. It has cost us money for not being used and is only a partial solution. Desal plants need energy to run on and need to be constantly maintained. Harvesting water from storms would've been a better proposition from the start. By this time we would've had plenty in reserve. I hope whomever is government in future looks at this seriously...

The biggest (mostly unsolved) problem with water harvesting from urban areas is pollution. The most successful method is still personal rainwater tanks sourced from roofs. We are close, but the treatment stage is costly. I do not know how it stacks up against the energy requirements of a desal plant, however.

Currently treatment (aerobic biological treatment + UV exposure) gets the water to a level safe to use for flushing toilets and watering gardens (not potable). This offsets drinking water, but at the moment, we would have to install a 'purple pipe' system in all areas to make use of runoff water.

Someone would need to do the sums to see what comes out as a better option.

[Goodsy]

Someone would need to do the sums to see what comes out as a better option.

Well there's these things in development
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVzppWSIFU0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omni_Processor


according to the figures on that page we'd need 27,777 of them to match the water output of the desal plant and we'd need to somehow come up with $41.6bn
If the larger version works then we'd need 3488 of them to match the water output of the Desal plant but there's no cost there for them

From my googling it looks like desalination wins hands down. I haven't found any large scale system turning sewerage into potable water, atleast on the sort of scale we'd need


Also interesting is that the worlds largest desal plant in Saudi Arabia produces 728 Megalitres a day, while the Murray's average discharge is 66 Gigalitres a day. The worlds largest desal plant only has 1.16% the capacity of the Murray. (that's only if the discharge rate is accurate on wikipedia, it probably isn't)

[Ho Really]

The biggest (mostly unsolved) problem with water harvesting from urban areas is pollution. The most successful method is still personal rainwater tanks sourced from roofs. We are close, but the treatment stage is costly. I do not know how it stacks up against the energy requirements of a desal plant, however.

Currently treatment (aerobic biological treatment + UV exposure) gets the water to a level safe to use for flushing toilets and watering gardens (not potable). This offsets drinking water, but at the moment, we would have to install a 'purple pipe' system in all areas to make use of runoff water.

Someone would need to do the sums to see what comes out as a better option.

As the thread is about recyling water for use in agriculture and gardens etc., I was referring to that (only). I knew it would be costly to turn this into drinking water. My idea is to keep Adelaide green using water that is going to waste. I mentioned something way back (years ago) in another thread that we should store stormwater in the South Parklands in large underground reservoirs. That's the sort of idea, etc., we should be looking at.

Cheers

[rhino]

What we need is regional passenger trains to the towns up north like Kapunda, Balaklava, Port Wakefield and Clare, Perhaps even go further north up to Port Pirie. They're not going to be able to develop anything if nobody is willing to live out there without work but you could entice some if those towns were within commuting distance of Adelaide, or each other.

People are not going to live out there without work, so why not take work out there? Cheep land for the manufacturing businesses. Subsidise transport costs for getting product to market so that businesses will re-locate out there. Workers have families, who need services. Those service providers have families ...

[PeFe]

From The 'Tiser

Irrigation plan to pump recycled water Bolivar to Adelaide Plains may create up to 3700 agriculture, horticulture jobs



AN irrigation project that could create up to 3700 jobs in northern Adelaide will go ahead after the Federal Government promised to contribute $46 million towards building costs.

Despite facing a political crisis after it was revealed he held New Zealand citizenship, Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce has agreed to spend $45.6 million from the National Water Infrastructure Development on the irrigation scheme.

The project will pump recycled water from the Bolivar sewage treatment works to the Adelaide Plains for use in irrigated agriculture and horticulture.

Mr Joyce and Assistant Water Minister Anne Ruston will on Thursday announce the Federal Government’s financial support for the scheme.

“We’re investing in the infrastructure of tomorrow so we can expand our production to meet global food demand that is set to rise by 75 per cent between 2007 and 2050,’’ the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“This project will be key to developing greater market access for South Australian producers to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Singapore.

“This project is a great example of the kind of infrastructure we are delivering across the country.”

Senator Ruston said the irrigation scheme would help unlock the potential of undeveloped land.

“Having already delivered funding of $2.5 million for the feasibility study, I am pleased the Government is continuing our support into the construction stage of this valuable project,’’ she said.

Senator Ruston said access to additional water would create new opportunities for farmers to capture the potential of higher-value crops.

Full article : http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... a4575fc762

[monotonehell]

This might have more uptake than the Glenelg Purple Pipes Project, agriculture likes water.

[Norman]

This is definitely good news, and has been on the Infrastructure Australia radar for a few months now. It would be great to see this driving a more sustainable agriculture region across the northern plains, supported by a fast connection to the airport along the North-South Motorway.

[duke]

Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said the Northern Adelaide Plains region was ripe for growth.

It is ripe for growth if you stop building on the little arable land we have.

Vertical Farming with Aquaponics will be the future so that won't be an issue. For the types of things grown out at Virginia.
Increased production, better management of water and nutrients, no need for pesticides, no diseases, food closer to the consumer.