Hi Jennifer,
I’ve just read an article in The Australian regarding a possible sweetner for the Bracks government, namely consideration of a $1.5 billion pipeline to supply Melbourne with water from the Murray river system.
I haven’t found what the other options — desalination, reuse of stormwater and a scheme to use waste water to replace water used by power generators in the Latrobe Valley — were going to cost the Victorian goverment but I’m blown away with spending $1.5 billion for 150 gigalitres per year. And the water will have to be sourced from consumptive users and almost certainly not from environmental flows.
Maybe the $1.5 billion price tag includes the cost of purchasing this water, if not it will add another $ 2-300 million.
To my way of thinking that leaves the capital cost in the region of $10-12 million per gigalitre, or $10-12,000 per megalitre. The opportunity cost of that money will hover close to $1,000 per megalitre let alone any pumping, cleaning, maintenance and payback for the $1.5 billion outlay. And if we account for the lost agricultural production(say $250 per megalitre) due to the loss of the water, then cost per megalitre approaches $2,000.
And to top it all off we’re not harnessing any new water for that outlay.
I can’t begin to guess what it would cost to harvest storm water, which is wasted at a cost to the environment, or getting waste water to power generation sites, at least doing either ‘create’ new water. Water that can be used without infringing on anyone. I’ll assume this is an expensive option.
I do note the Victorian government hasn’t mentioned recycling.
What I do have, is some understanding of desalination. One of the more recent installations is in Ashkelon, Israel. This plant has a capital cost of about $300million( US$250m) to produce 110 gigalitres per year at a cost of $700 per megalitre (52 cents US/m3)
Desalination of seawater takes 3-4kw of electricity to produce a m3 (1,000 litres).
This desalination plant has it’s own gas fired 80MW power station. I would guess such power consumption will have some people jumping up and down, but to put 80 MW into perspective it is less than 1% of Victoria’s generating capacity of 9,000 MW and is close to 10% of Victoria’s current (no pun intended) renewable electricity output of 767 MW of which 580 MW are hydro generated.
All we need to do is expand renewables by 10% to keep blood pressures in check.
A Texas site on desalination supports the Israel experience. Though slightly more expensive – those Israeli’s know how to drive a bargain.
Regards,
Rojo
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
It looks like we are getting the desalination plant and the pipleline. I am guessing they would have liked to put in the option of sending recyled water to Gipplsland to cool the power plants as well, but they will already have two electoral areas that are guaranteed to vote against them now, no need to have three at once.
Rojo, your $2000/Ml is about right but it is the wholesale cost. The cost of reticulation adds another $800/Ml or three times the current retail price.
But that costing is on the basis that the water will be drawn down every year. But if that is the case then the existing dams will be left with water in situ (evaporating). And this will mean less cost recovery from the existing infrastructure.
Some call it gross incompetence, some call it waste, but I would call it another gross injustice dealt to the farmers of the Murray-Darling at the ignorant whimsies of the metrotyranical pond life.
Rojo: I haven’t seen the press yet on the subject by the on air comment was about sharing resources by thirds each way via the pipeline. That fits well with my comments here and elsewhere about flexible infrastructure development to accommodate climate change.
Let me guess the Eildon Reservoir becomes part of the attraction for linking major Victorian schemes. I know the areas well enough to reckon the Victorian dairy industry may be involved with the Metro and power schemes too.
I did some work on urgent Metro expansions with the old MMBW during the 70’s prior to the Thompson R diversion. It seems climate change has stuffed all that.
Our local guru in the Capital, Paul Perkins said today that problem is wide spread and we need to stop blaming authorities then get on with adjustments across the board even if it rains again this winter.
On the subject of Melbourne, that fair city on 30th June will host the Lavoisier conference on rehabitating carbon dioxide. The programme is at:
http://www.lavoisier.com.au/papers/Conf2007/Workshop2007prog.html
The flavour of my presentation can be found on Warwick Hughes’ blog at:
http://www.warwickhughes.com/agri/pastandfuture2.pdf
If you are lucky enough to be able to attend, you will gain an understanding of why the world is getting colder.
Wow – David Archibald. My all time fav contrarian personality (Sorry Bob ). Pity Warwick stopped us talking at his place eh?
Lucky hey? A prediction of imminent fooling oops misquote!
David: I stopped reading the W/H link after looking at Fig 3, your 300 year “Central England Temperature Record” that supposedly composite graph that has no source refs, instrument standards etc modern or ancient. That concoction makes no sense.
My job over decades was to build measurement systems and calibrate other makers gear for the local industrialists, all well connected internationally.
Commissioning and trouble shooting in the real world requires firm grounding. Practical awareness starts with successfully using your nose…
Ian, I am only concerned with the wholesale cost as retail price has no effect on the cost of water sourced by other means. The water we’re talking about will have an impact on retail price though, and it will still need distribution.
Gavin, there was lots of new stuff announced today that I wasn’t aware of when I wrote this piece, I haven’t checked it all out yet.
Rojo: Two questions I have yet to settle 1) what happens to the outfall from the sewage treatment plant Carrum Downs, a place I was not permitted to experience during it’s commissioning 2) The cost of lifting surplus metro water from any source over the Divide.
A discussion on ABC radio today outlined a new survey of existing Aus. wide water management schemes. Less than 10% comes from urban run off. It’s my view treatment to portable drinking water standards would be similar to that of raw sewage given only pure water should ever enter the town distribution network. Clean up after any accidental contamination is a disruptive and wasteful process that requires high doses of chlorine to remain stagnant in pipelines and storages over time.
For David’s sake my comments were a bit harsh but I consider early thermometers are a bit like old mining machinery, quite useless in today’s hurly burley.
To put that in perspective I once worked topside for arguably the largest underground tin mine on this planet. We shifted a lot of very low grade ore to find gold in those days. Predictions about earth’s ambient temp below the deepest level certainly gets more interesting with time.