❓ Mr. Krsticevic asks about the Beenyup groundwater replenishment trial and community outreach. Mr. Marmion provides an update on the trial's progress, public support, and future considerations for water security.
AnsweredQoN 626Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BEENYUP GROUNDWATER REPLENISHMENT TRIAL
626. Mr A. KRSTICEVIC to the Minister for Water:
I draw the minister's
attention to the groundwater replenishment trial, which is of interest to
people in my electorate of Carine. I understand that the groundwater
replenishment could be a climate independent water source of the future. Could
the minister update the house on this trial and, in particular, the community
outreach?
626. Mr A. KRSTICEVIC to the Minister for Water:
I draw the minister's
attention to the groundwater replenishment trial, which is of interest to
people in my electorate of Carine. I understand that the groundwater
replenishment could be a climate independent water source of the future. Could
the minister update the house on this trial and, in particular, the community
outreach?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Carine for
the question.
Mr
F.M. Logan interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cockburn, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. I do not need to hear your continual interjections. I only need to
hear from the Minister for Water.
Mr
W.R. MARMION : I also acknowledge the Speaker from the Cook Islands. I used
to collect Cook Islands stamps when I was a younger lad. Unfortunately, that
has fallen by the wayside.
I am pleased to be able to update
the house on the groundwater replenishment trial at Beenyup. As previously
explained in this house, the groundwater replenishment trial is a process that
further treats secondary waste water. It is done at the Beenyup wastewater
treatment plant up to drinking water standards and then it is recharged into
the confined Leederville aquifer. The actual treatment involves tertiary
treatment. Then it goes through reverse osmosis filtration and finally
ultraviolet bacterial treatment. I am pleased to announce that so far over the
nearly two years of the trial, which will conclude in December this year, about
two billion litres of recycled water has been recharged into the Leederville
aquifer. Over that period over 53 800 samples have been taken and tested by the
Department of Health, and the samples have all met the stringent health and
environmental guidelines, so I am very encouraged by the trial so far.
Part of the trial has involved a
built-in visitors centre at Craigie. Over the nearly two years of the trial, 6 000
people have been through the visitors centre. One of the interesting things
about the visitors centre is that before the visitors go through, they are
asked for their opinion on whether they support waste water treatment and
groundwater replenishment. The response from the general public is that around
70 per cent of people support the trial, but after people have gone through the
visitors centre, that figure goes up to about 90 per cent. That is a very good
endorsement of not only the replenishment trial, but also the visitors centre.
Most visitors go through during the week, but we occasionally have the place
open on weekends. Last weekend was our final weekend open day for the community
and 400 people went through. I would like to thank all those people involved on
the weekend who put in a good day's work and I would like to thank
Scitech's travelling ''H2O Show'', which came along, and
the volunteers who provided expert garden advice to help people with waterwise
treatment on their gardens.
According to a recent survey, the
overall support for the trial is now up at 76 per cent. When the trial is
completed in December, the government will consider community feedback and will
make a decision on whether we move forward into the next phase of securing
water security for Perth. We already have 150 gigalitres coming on tap through
desalination. The growth factor for us actually securing Western Australia's
water supply will probably come from recharging our aquifers through waste
water replenishment.
the question.
Mr
F.M. Logan interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cockburn, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. I do not need to hear your continual interjections. I only need to
hear from the Minister for Water.
Mr
W.R. MARMION : I also acknowledge the Speaker from the Cook Islands. I used
to collect Cook Islands stamps when I was a younger lad. Unfortunately, that
has fallen by the wayside.
I am pleased to be able to update
the house on the groundwater replenishment trial at Beenyup. As previously
explained in this house, the groundwater replenishment trial is a process that
further treats secondary waste water. It is done at the Beenyup wastewater
treatment plant up to drinking water standards and then it is recharged into
the confined Leederville aquifer. The actual treatment involves tertiary
treatment. Then it goes through reverse osmosis filtration and finally
ultraviolet bacterial treatment. I am pleased to announce that so far over the
nearly two years of the trial, which will conclude in December this year, about
two billion litres of recycled water has been recharged into the Leederville
aquifer. Over that period over 53 800 samples have been taken and tested by the
Department of Health, and the samples have all met the stringent health and
environmental guidelines, so I am very encouraged by the trial so far.
Part of the trial has involved a
built-in visitors centre at Craigie. Over the nearly two years of the trial, 6 000
people have been through the visitors centre. One of the interesting things
about the visitors centre is that before the visitors go through, they are
asked for their opinion on whether they support waste water treatment and
groundwater replenishment. The response from the general public is that around
70 per cent of people support the trial, but after people have gone through the
visitors centre, that figure goes up to about 90 per cent. That is a very good
endorsement of not only the replenishment trial, but also the visitors centre.
Most visitors go through during the week, but we occasionally have the place
open on weekends. Last weekend was our final weekend open day for the community
and 400 people went through. I would like to thank all those people involved on
the weekend who put in a good day's work and I would like to thank
Scitech's travelling ''H2O Show'', which came along, and
the volunteers who provided expert garden advice to help people with waterwise
treatment on their gardens.
According to a recent survey, the
overall support for the trial is now up at 76 per cent. When the trial is
completed in December, the government will consider community feedback and will
make a decision on whether we move forward into the next phase of securing
water security for Perth. We already have 150 gigalitres coming on tap through
desalination. The growth factor for us actually securing Western Australia's
water supply will probably come from recharging our aquifers through waste
water replenishment.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.