Seawater desalination in Australia

Australia is the driest inhabitable continent on Earth and its installed desalination capacity is around 1% of the total world’s total. Until a few decades ago, Australia met its demands for water by drawing freshwater from dams and water catchments. As a result of the water supply crisis during the severe 1997–2009 drought state governments began building desalination plants that purify seawater using reverse osmosis technology.

Although the Australia's first desalination plant dates from 1903 and several more operated during the 20th century, the first modern large-scale desalination plant was the Kwinana plant in Perth, completed in November 2006. Over 30 plants are currently operating across the country. Many plants are utilizing nearby wind or wave farms to use renewable energy and reduce operating costs, and solar powered desalination units are used for remote communities.

Until a few decades ago, Australia met its demands for water by drawing freshwater from dams and water catchments. However, during 2000-2010 a significant lack of rainfall drained water reservoirs. The most affected cities were the capitals, where there is high uncertainty in water supply and demand. In 2007, Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, experienced a dramatic drop of its main dam Warragamba, where water levels dropped to 33% of normal.

Australia’s first desalination plant was constructed in 1903 to treat saline groundwater in the gold fields of Western Australia at Kalgoorlie. Several desalination plants were built in Australia between 1960 and 1980, especially following the revolution in membrane technology that made reverse osmosis economically viable, but vapor-compression desalination and multi-stage flash distillation plants were also built. By 2002, however, only two reverse osmosis desalination plants were still operating, one on Kangaroo Island and the other on Rottnest Island. Seawater reverse osmosis is the only type of desalination technology currently used for large-scale desalination plants in Australia, the most important of these plants being located in Perth and Sydney.

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