Botany Bay

[keenist]

So the govt is pursuing the tragic story of the desalination plant at Kurnell

http://www.smh.com.au/news/drought/desalin...2623785807.html

As a local I have seen the Bay evolve into one of the premier fishing destinnations in NSW, let alone metro sydney. Since the banning of the pros the waterway has gone from strength to strength.

Seems the good times won't be lasting too long with this ridiculous desal plant and the port botany upgrade

Not happy!

[Davemmm]

So the govt is pursuing the tragic story of the desalination plant at Kurnell

http://www.smh.com.au/news/drought/desalin...2623785807.html

As a local I have seen the Bay evolve into one of the premier fishing destinnations in NSW, let alone metro sydney. Since the banning of the pros the waterway has gone from strength to strength.

Seems the good times won't be lasting too long with this ridiculous desal plant and the port botany upgrade

Not happy!

I'm certainly no scientist but I think the port extension will have a much greater effect on the Bay than the desal. The last big change almost killed off Quibray with a wave pattern that altered the whole Bay. Now they have almost got that fixed and it will change again. Add to that the seagrass loss and we may have big probs.

Dave

[Penguin]

Would u drink recycled sewage water?

Coz thats what the Desalination plant is gona supply us with.

I just dont like this idea,maybe this water should be used to

water our gardens and wash our cars etc,but not be used

for drinking.

penguin

[pelican]

Jeeeeze for that sort of money we could all get huge rainwater tanks gratis and put off this decision for 15 years. Me thinks we have terrorism worries and someone in govt knows just how bad our water infustructure is. Bloody politics I wish they would just fix some problems instead of wild hairbrained schemes to make more problems. What about the hard sell- twice the desal water as less than half the price" . Just shows how stupid and how much we were going to get screwed the first time round. All a desal plant will do is put offf fixing or replacing old infustructure. When the desal plant has a "problem" and breaks down in a few years then all the other issues of the way water is managed will come to light.

I know dams are a issue but surely recycling stormwater is a better option in many areas.

Can't believe they are saying little to no impact for putting highly saline water back in the ocean. How bloody short sighted as usual and let your grandkids generation fix it.

Give any govt a excess in $ and this is what you get.

The above isn't political in any way as both sides of politics are self serving and have brains and forsight of a pea!!!!

Probably have to build that nuc reactor to power the thing.

Port expansion will make a huge mess and may involve permanent or reoccurring dredging and we all know that is a major problem.

Edited June 26, 2007 by pelican

[Nathan L]

i have no qualms drinking recycled water

also, im not advocating this ridiculous scheme, but i was wondering if anyone knew the actual repercussions of increased salinity on an inshore ecosystem like botany bay?

just saying that because nonsensical drivel is what others have used against us in the past, and i don't want to stoop to that level.

[huntman]

The impact would be influenced by tidal flow and frequency of rainfall. Apparently the intake is a bigger problem than the outflow for coastal plants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination#Environmental

The worst bit about the plant though is its efficiency. You're basically sending a lot more greenhouse gases out so you can get a minimal amount of water... water recycling and fixing leaks should be the first two options. The idea of drinking recycled water is a lot worse than the reality in my opinion.

[SUBLiME]

all i know is that once they have this desalination plant implemented and the water hooked up to our homes, i wont be drinking water from the tap.. no chance in hell.

its just a shame. everythings about the dollar and never about whats going to happen to the envoriment in which they are building... for fcuks sake like they go on about 'global warming' and how we as 'loyal citizens' should try and decrease the amount of green house gas emissions that we do but then they dont look at what they're doing the stupid pin heads.

i give it 25 yrs and the harbour wont have fish left in it unfortunately

[Geoff]

i have no qualms drinking recycled water

also, im not advocating this ridiculous scheme, but i was wondering if anyone knew the actual repercussions of increased salinity on an inshore ecosystem like botany bay?

.

There have been a No. of interesting interviews on the radio over the past few days on the various aspects regarding the plant. These interviews were done with technical personal , not the pollies

Here are a few of the comments I recall

** It takes 2 lts of sea water to produce 1lt of drinkable water.

** The salt is removed by passing the water through a series of filters.

** The drinking water is so pure they need to add back in a small amount of salt to bring it back up to the standard of current water from the dams

** The suction is very low & the only thing that get sucked in with the water is the occusional jelly fish

** The salinity will be pumped out into the ocean , not B.B.

** The salinity returns to normal salt water levels within approx 70mt of the outlet

** It does take energy to run the plant but so to does it require energy to run dams & the existing system. It is claimed the difference between the two is not all that great.

** The desal plant in Perth has been very sucussful & plans are underway to build a second plant

***********************************************

Personally , I would have preffered to see the money go into home rain water tanks but if this is a guarenteed water supply for Sydney then OK

I notice no one has commented or complaind about the oil refinery sucking water out of the bay & pumping hot water back in

Geoff

[Mondo Rock]

I notice no one has commented or complaind about the oil refinery sucking water out of the bay & pumping hot water back in

Ha!!

Just like no-one will complain about the desal plant or port upgrade if they lead to improved fishing conditions.

Fingers crossed . . . .

[keenist]

For those of you who have bathed in and drank water in Japan, singapore, the UK, France, Germany, anywhere in Netherlands, and countless other developed nations, that was recycled water !! And not on;y recycled stormwater (grey water) but that included BLACK Water.

Black water, for the unititiated, is any water captured in drains, waste, or flushed down a toilet ! Technology is so advanced nowdays that the purified water that is produced from treatment plants is exactly that - PURIFIED WATER !

The fact that so many Australians can't get their head around recycled water is the very reason why the Govt is about to spend all that hard earned taxpayers money ripping up half of Botany Bay !!

The Port upgrade, I guess, is inevitable. But the timing couldn't be worse if both projects get up simultaneously...

[pelican]

Not that they'll say it but I think the govt is worried about terrorism as we have very insecure infustructure when it comes to water and a tour de France cyclist urinating in the dam water could kill us all. well at least make us walk faster or something.

For that sort of money I still don't think it is good value when other alternatives exist as it is still a centralised system that makes it a target.

I get disgusted when people will say it will make no difference to the bay etc etc. Of course it will be different but we just don't understand hoe different. Could be as simple as it will support a brine loving algie near the outlet all the way up to a llowing a introduced species from bilge water to breed at the outlet.

This isn't pure science it is pure politics and a patch up of run down infustructure by successive political parties for 40 years saying technology is the solution without using common sense.

Can't complain- it's a democracy and we are the idiots who let these guys run down our infustructure or sell it off and don't guarantee emd service.

Pel

PS it'll alll be ok when we have nuclear power to keep it running as it doesn't produce any emmisions - year right.

[pjbink]

To recycle water requires at least as much energy and even greater cost than desalination. A similar process is usually used (reverse osmosis) or other energy intensive methods such as distillation. Recyling is also reliant on there being enough rainfall to start with.

[jewgaffer]

For those of you who have bathed in and drank water in Japan, singapore, the UK, France, Germany, anywhere in Netherlands, and countless other developed nations, that was recycled water !! And not on;y recycled stormwater (grey water) but that included BLACK Water.

Black water, for the unititiated, is any water captured in drains, waste, or flushed down a toilet ! Technology is so advanced nowdays that the purified water that is produced from treatment plants is exactly that - PURIFIED WATER !

The fact that so many Australians can't get their head around recycled water is the very reason why the Govt is about to spend all that hard earned taxpayers money ripping up half of Botany Bay !!

The Port upgrade, I guess, is inevitable. But the timing couldn't be worse if both projects get up simultaneously...

whenever they give the all clear that it now disease free i'm still not gunna drink it. i won't trust their technology untill they recall it, take it off the market and clean up the dead and even so that won't be until they invent new vaccinations.

even when they then say they have now proved it to be 100% safe for washing machines, i reckon we'll all finish with advanced underarm excrusiosa or at best another incurable strain of black water socadaemia between the cheeks.

jewgaffer

Edited July 30, 2007 by jewgaffer

[thereddragon]

Yep this is Bob Carr's baby, another white elephant from state labor party. Lets see what else they can xxxx up. Aparrently the state govt doe's not even have to go through local council to push this development through. Meaning the local residence have no legal avenue to pursue.