Hunter Water to look at desalination/reuse again

Desalination and water reuse are back on the table as options for the future water supply of the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales, Australia, following the state government’s axing of the Tillegra dam on 28 November 2010.

The Newcastle Herald quoted Hunter Water managing director Kevin Young on 1 December 2010 as saying, “Desalination is one [option], as well as all of the water recycling options.”

A 120,000 m³/d desalination plant on the coast was mooted as an option in a report by consultants GHD in 2007, but dismissed at the time as expensive and environmentally more damaging than the dam option.