Facilitating recycling of stormwater and reclaimed water via aquifers in Australia
Project details
| Objective: |
To develop a policy framework that can be adopted by the jurisdictions, which will provide an assessment tool to determine if Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is viable in the area of interest and assess a number of areas for MAR suitability. |
| Funding: |
up to $805,168 plus applicable GST from the Australian Government towards cost associated with supporting the work program. Total value of the project is $1,491,698 with $686,530 being contributed by CSIRO and Sinclair Knight Merz. |
| Jurisdiction: |
Multi State |
| Commenced: |
November 2008 |
| Completed: |
September 2010 |
About the project
Project will develop a policy framework that can be adopted by the jurisdictions, which will provide an assessment tool to determine if Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is viable in the area of interest and assess a number of areas for MAR suitability. This project provides relevant information for COAG's work program for urban water agreed in November 2008, which includes work to further explore the issue of establishing entitlements for alternative urban water sources (recycling, stormwater and managed aquifer recharge). This project is comprised of three components that may be undertaken concurrently. Outcomes of each component are:
- A policy framework for Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) with catchment runoff, groundwater, stormwater and reclaimed water in Australia, taking account of end uses, hydrogeological conditions, and water use efficiency.
- A viability assessment tool which will facilitate uptake of NWQMS guidelines for water recycling via subsurface storage in the form of an electronic database and risk assessment model. This will provide specific guidance to proponents and approvers of MAR projects on the treatment requirements for recharge water adapted to the source water, aquifer, recharge method, end use of water and environmental values.
- Assessment of subsurface storage opportunities for priority areas in Australia, including "maps of potential" and estimates of the available storage and recovery capacity. Efforts will focus on South East Queensland and the Central Coast of NSW.
Project benefits
Proposal is strongly aligned with the RNWS priority to investigate and determine Aquifer Storage & Recovery. This project addresses the key impediments to investment in MAR;
- Absence of policies giving entitlements to investors in water recycling and aquifer replenishment with uniform application across jurisdictions, and addressing over-allocation of groundwater,
- Treatment costs are critical to the viability of water recycling via aquifers and these depend on having reliable data that back the forthcoming MAR guidelines and putting these into implementation tools to make guidelines easy to apply and give clear guidance to investors
- Lack of confidence in the opportunities for MAR in specific areas where there are water shortages