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East Gippsland Water Media ReleaseUnderground with water storage By East Gippsland Water - 11th October 2011 - Back to News Marking a first for Australia, East Gippsland Water has started storing bulk amounts of water for drinking, underground in an aquifer.
Using an innovative technique known as Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), water sourced from the Mitchell River is being injected into the Latrobe Valley group of deep aquifers via East Gippsland Water’s borefield at Woodglen, north west of Bairnsdale. This stored water will be available to be extracted at a later date, as required, and fully treated to supply East Gippsland Water customers from Lindenow to Bairnsdale, Paynesville, Lakes Entrance and surrounding areas.
The aquifer provides East Gippsland Water with additional storage to its two open basins at Woodglen.
Making use of an aquifer as an underground storage reduces the potential for water loss through evaporation. It also maintains high quality drinking water, free from risks of algal and airborne contamination and is more cost-effective than constructing traditional water storages such as open basins, dams and covered tanks. In addition, it means that water can be extracted from the Mitchell River for underground storage when it is more plentiful, reducing impacts on the lower summer flows.
Recently the groundwater regulator, Southern Rural Water, approved East Gippsland Water’s application for an ASR licence to store up to 200 million litres in the first 12 months, which can increase up to 500 million litres per year in subsequent years. This followed broad consultation with stakeholders, including nearby groundwater users. There was also an extensive pilot program and modelling which demonstrated that subsequent extraction of this water from the aquifer would have minimal impact on surrounding groundwater levels.
Said East Gippsland Water’s Managing Director, Les Mathieson: "The terms of our licence with Southern Rural Water mean that this project comes with strict environmental conditions and monitoring requirements. Water quality samples and groundwater levels will be measured monthly from East Gippsland Water, state and private bores to ensure minimal impact on existing ground water users."
"The need for an additional water storage like this has been identified in our Water Supply Demand Strategy for the Mitchell River supply system, which provides a 50 year forecast of water supply and demand for the communities this system serves. This has considered the challenges presented by population growth and changes in climate.
"ASR represents a very cost-effective tool to help respond to these challenges, reducing the potential for water loss through evaporation and ensuring the availability of high quality drinking water supplies.
For more information please contact East Gippsland Water’s Communications Manager, Ronan Carroll, on (03) 5150 4434 or 0428 539303.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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