Paul Dalby

1. Paul Dalby Board Member, Water Industry Alliance In Fusion Consulting

2. Summary • Demand for water in Adelaide is in danger of exceeding supply in short and long term • Desalination is one supply option among many • Independent of climate, greatest security • Highest energy and financial cost • Potential serious threat to marine habitat • There are other options which have different costs and benefits

3. Desalination 1. Distillation Processes 2. Membrane Processes • Reverse Osmosis is a pressure driven process which forces saline water through a membrane, leaving salts behind. • Electrodialysis is a voltage driven process and uses an electric potential to move salts selectively through a membrane, leaving fresh water behind.

4. Reverse Osmosis

5. Why did SA consider desalination? • Water source independent of climate • Demand exceeds supply from rainfall capture and river flow • Cope with long droughts, climate change and increasing population • Maintain economic activity and investor confidence in Adelaide • Politics (many South Australians asked for it!)

6. Desalination in Australia • Currently only provides approximately 1% of Australia’s potable supply • 17% of Perth’s potable supply (45GL) • Energy supplied by wind power • Second plant planned for 2011 (45GL) • Most Australian capital cities are investigating or planning desalination plants to meet future needs • Most of these are controversial

7. Potential problems of desalination • Impacts on marine environments • Benign to catastrophic (other speakers) • Cost ($1.5B for Adelaide, up to $2/kL) • Energy consumption and carbon emissions • renewable energy options?

8. Our current supplies First Use • River Murray • fine if we got our “guaranteed” supply • Theoretically possible to buy and store all we need, even in very dry years • Mount Lofty Ranges Catchments • Unreliable Recycled • Recycled sewage water for irrigation (30% in metro Adelaide, 24% in country) • Aquifer storage and recovery for industrial use in Salisbury

9. First Use Alternatives • Demand management • Plenty of potential • Done well, social/economic benefit and vice versa • Limited political support beyond low hanging fruit? • Rain water harvesting • >50% households have rainwater tanks (highest in Aust) • Theoretical potential of 5-100% of household use • Similar life-time cost as desalination (borne by user) • Some health concerns for potable use • Rain gardens! • Groundwater • Not much chop in Adelaide, perhaps emergency use only

10. Re-use alternatives • Wastewater recycling • Major health concerns for potable re-use • Lots of opportunities for non-potable re-use • In situ/distributed vs centralised • Benefits to health of the Gulf • Aquifer storage and recovery • Difficult to store (a couple of big events annually) • Long term storage management issues? • Health concerns for potable re-use • Benefits to health of the Gulf

11. Energy intensity • Most options require energy • Desalination sea water (3 - 5 kWh per kilolitre = highest) • Brackish reverse osmosis (0.7-1.2 kWh) • Pumping water from the River Murray (1 – 1.25 kWh) • Municipal wastewater reclamation (0.8 -1.0 kWh) • Conventional water treatment (0.4 - 0.6 kWh) • Infrastructure for rainwater harvesting (<1 kWh) • Non-potable use of waste and storm water (low) • Demand management REDUCES energy use but there are potentially other costs

12. Cost of desalination • Energy inputs are 50% - 75% of costs • Membrane filtration is most energy efficient but has higher start up costs • Energy required is about 4.5 kWh per kilolitre • The full cost of production is $1.70 to $2.00 per kL (operating and capital) for Adelaide plant • We currently pay $0.71 - $1.65 per kL plus a fixed fee for water pumped to your house • Current cost is of supply is $0.75 - $0.80

13. Additional energy costs • 4.5 kWh per kL • 100 - 200 kL per capita per annum • 25% supplied by desalination (50 GL) • Attribute all energy costs • 225 kWh per capita per annum • Av. energy use in Australia is 11,000 kWh • 2.0% increase in energy use

14. Risk management Assuming we need to diversity our water supplies • Do we need part of our supply to be independent of climate? • How much risk to human health are we willing to accept? • How much risk to environmental values are we willing to accept? • If desalination can be carbon neutral, is that ok? • How much are we be prepared to pay?

15. Continuing the conversation • (democracy) • blog.litfuse.com.au • You can respond directly or back-link your blog • Put up data, comments, links, statements • Talk to each other • Invite experts to add their views

17. Governance and Regulation • There is a conflict between sound water management objectives and revenue raising objectives • Buying and storing water from River Murray – why not? • Independent Regulator - NWI • Deregulation (not privatisation) of water supply? • Permission to capture rain water

18. References • Tennille Winter, David J. Pannell and Laura McCann. (2000) The Economics of Desalination and its Potential Application in Australia. Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia • Energy & Equity. Preparing households for climate change: efficiency, equity, immediacy. Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), CHOICE and the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) • Australian water recycling today – the big issues. John Radcliffe. National Water Recycling and Reuse 2008 Conference 27 May 2008 • Australian Bureau of Statistics • Colin Creighton, CSIRO • SA Water