Home

Winter start date targeted for salinty project

South Western Times
Wellington Dam
Camera IconWellington Dam Credit: WA News, Sharon Smith

Collie Water project manager Brant Edwards is hopeful elements of the first stage of the Myalup-Wellington Project will be in place by winter.

Mr Edwards and other members of Collie Water have taken the opportunity to update community members on the progress of the project at three meetings over the course of the past week.

The first step will be to start the extraction of water from the east branch of the Collie River at Buckingham where the salt level can be as high as 16,000mg/L.

“Fresh water is around 500mg/L; it’s currently not quite as bad as sea water but it is halfway there,” Mr Edwards said.

“That salt essentially flows all the way through to Wellington Dam, where the salinity level there is between 1200mg/L and 1400mg/L.”

Extracting water into a nearby 35-gigalitre mine void by winter is a focus as it is the period of highest flow within the catchment.

“We’d like to start construction of the pipeline and desalination plant in the new year as well, but everything is still subject to sorting out access agreements and final approvals.”

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails