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An Independent Feasibility Study of Treating Large Saline Reserves East of the Darling Escarpment

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An Independent Feasibility Study of Treating Large Saline Reserves East of the Darling Escarpment An independent feasibility study of treating large saline reserves east of the Darling Escarpment Final Report Contract No. DOW1710 29 JUNE 2011 Prepared for the Minister for Water DOW1710 Saline water treatment This Report is an updated version of the Final Report delivered and accepted by the Government of Western Australia, Department of Water, on 22 September 2010. It reflects editorial revisions to prepare the report for publishing on the Department of Water website. This Report was prepared for, and at the request of, the Government of Western Australia, and solely for the Government of Western Australia's strategic planning purposes. It is not intended for the private use of any third party, and no third party should rely upon the contents of this Report under any circumstances. This Report is not to be relied upon by any individual, financier, investor, property owner, or other third party, and any such reliance by such party would be misplaced. Each third party should undertake their own independent investigation of the subject matters dealt with in this Report, and URS Australia Pty Ltd accepts no liability of any kind for the use of this Report by anyone other than the Government of Western Australia Department of Water. The issuance of this Report is subject to the Limitations statement contained herein, which should be carefully reviewed. URS Australia Pty Ltd consents to the publishing of this Report on the Department of Water Website with the understanding that third parties who review this Report will do so at their own risk and will release URS Australia Pty Ltd from any liability arising from their review of this Report and from the contents of the Report. 42907533/S0156/3 DOW1710 Saline water treatment Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................ix 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................1 1.1 Project objective ................................................................................................1 1.2 Background ........................................................................................................1 1.2.1 Management of saline water in the agricultural areas .................................................1 1.2.2 The ‘push’ for drainage in the dryland agricultural areas ...........................................1 1.2.3 Improved salinity engineering in the wheatbelt............................................................2 1.2.4 Groundwater abstraction ................................................................................................2 1.3 Methodology.......................................................................................................2 1.4 Qualifications related to the material presented in this report......................3 1.5 About this report................................................................................................4 2 TOR 1 - Assessment of engineering options..................................................5 2.1 Methodology.......................................................................................................5 2.2 Groundwater abstraction ..................................................................................5 2.2.1 Conceptual plans for groundwater abstraction in agricultural areas ........................5 2.2.2 Abstraction estimates based on assumed aquifer properties....................................5 2.2.3 Empirical data ..................................................................................................................6 2.2.4 Palaeochannel pump tests in the Salt River .................................................................8 2.2.5 Palaeochannel pump tests at Dumbleyung ..................................................................8 2.2.6 Palaeochannel pump tests at Tammin ..........................................................................9 2.2.7 Groundwater abstraction at Toolibin Lake....................................................................9 2.2.8 Rural towns’ experiences..............................................................................................10 2.2.9 Modelling groundwater pumping in the Kent River ...................................................11 2.2.10 Summary conclusions for groundwater pumping addressing salinity....................11 2.3 Wheatbelt deep drainage ................................................................................12 2.3.1 Assessment of performance.........................................................................................12 2.3.2 Drainage discharge rates..............................................................................................13 2.3.3 Likely impact of future arterial drainage activities in the wheatbelt.........................15 2.3.4 Evaluation of conceptual basin-scale drainage schemes.........................................16 2.3.5 The role of drainage in managing salinity...................................................................20 2.4 Use of relief and siphon wells ........................................................................22 2.4.1 Relief wells .....................................................................................................................22 42907533/S0156/3 i DOW1710 Saline water treatment 2.4.2 Siphon wells ...................................................................................................................22 2.4.3 Effectiveness of relief and siphon wells......................................................................22 2.5 Surface water harvesting ................................................................................23 3 TOR 2 and 3 - Identification and assessment of water reserves.................25 3.1 Methodology.....................................................................................................25 3.1.1 TOR 2. Identify saline water reserves .........................................................................25 3.1.2 TOR 3. Assess water characteristics of the water resources ..................................25 3.2 Groundwater east of the Darling Scarp .........................................................25 3.3 Major groundwater resources ........................................................................26 3.3.1 Saline palaeochannels and other major resources....................................................26 3.3.2 Local groundwater supplies elsewhere in the wheatbelt ..........................................31 3.3.3 Fresh to marginal resources.........................................................................................32 3.4 Groundwater supplies within townsites ........................................................33 3.4.1 Dandaragan and Watheroo water resources ..............................................................33 3.4.2 Rural Towns ...................................................................................................................34 3.5 Major streamflows ...........................................................................................35 3.5.1 Avon River System ........................................................................................................35 3.5.2 Composition of streamflows.........................................................................................38 3.6 Possibility of diversions to separate water flows by quality .......................38 4 TOR 4 - Evaluation of water treatment technologies ...................................41 4.1 Methodology.....................................................................................................41 4.1.1 Water treatment technologies ......................................................................................41 4.1.2 Option scenarios............................................................................................................41 4.1.3 Case studies...................................................................................................................41 4.2 Desalination technologies ..............................................................................41 4.3 Membrane processes ......................................................................................42 4.3.1 Reverse Osmosis (RO)..................................................................................................43 4.3.2 Electrodialysis................................................................................................................47 4.4 Distillation processes......................................................................................49 4.4.1 Multistage Flash Distillation .........................................................................................50 4.4.2 Multi Effect Distillation ..................................................................................................52 4.4.3 Vapour Compression Distillation .................................................................................54 42907533/S0156/3 DOW1710 Saline water treatment 4.5 Comparison of membrane and distillation processes .................................55 4.5.1 Membrane processes ....................................................................................................56 4.5.2 Distillation plants ...........................................................................................................56
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