Desalination plant a $5 billion conundrum

Victoria's as yet unused $5 billion desalination
plant near Wonthaggi in the state's south east.

The capacity of Victoria's desalination plant could be expanded by 50 billion litres a year if Melbourne's water storages continue to experience big falls recorded in recent years.

Melbourne is using 416 billion litres of water a year - the highest consumption in a decade.

A risk management framework developed by Melbourne's water businesses shows the city is entering the "action" zone that includes an order of water from the desalination plant and "augmentation decisions to maintain water security".

Read Jason Dowling’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Will Victoria's desalination plant need to get bigger?”

(“Conundrum” might be the best word to describe Victoria’s as yet unused desalination plant near Wonthaggi in the state’s south east.

Victoria needs the potable water the plant can produce because of droughts brought on by human-induced climate change and yet the coal-fired power the desalinization plant needs worsens the reasons for its need. The adage of a “cat chasing its tail” appears to apply.

Yes, this is a wicked problem – we need the water, but the power we produce to secure that water worsens the problem that has caused the water shortages in the first place.

We need to approach the problem from a different perspective and rather than aggravate the essence of the trouble, that is burning more fossil fuels as we attempt to live life in a “business as usual” way, we need to recast and reshapes our lives so that we reduce our water demands and rather than spending some $5 billion on something that will only worsen what exists.

Victorians need to limit and reduce their water demands and spend with enthusiasm on building a renewable energy grid throughout the state – Robert McLean).