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Australia’s largest desalination plant is
operational
GE’s Power Conversion business has helped bring
Australia’s largest seawater desalination plant into
operation to complement catchments and storages in
the area around Melbourne.
The Victorian Desalination Project, 130 km southeast
of Melbourne, runs on low- and medium-voltage drives
and medium-voltage motors supplied by GE. The plant
is among the largest reverse osmosis plants in the world.
It was brought online in November 2012, completed
successfully the required 30-day continuous production
test and reached full operation in December, three
years after construction began.
The plant can supply up to 150 billion litres of
drinking water per year to Melbourne and regional
communities, providing a rainfall independent supply,
and is a resource that will be valued particularly in
times of future drought.
The AquaSure consortium, which led the project,
contracted Thiess Degrémont Joint Venture to design,
construct and operate the desalination plant—valued
at AU$3.5 billion—together with marine structures, a
1.9m in diameter water transfer pipeline stretching over
84km and an 87km underground power line (the longest
220kV HVAC underground power cable of its type in the
world) to connect the plant with the electricity grid.
The plant incorporates reverse osmosis desalination
technology used by Degrémont, a subsidiary of Suez
Environment and a world leader in the field.
Efforts have been made to minimise the
environmental impact of the desalination plant.
Reverse osmosis is the most energy-efficient method
of desalinating water, and the plant includes energy
recovery devices to reduce power consumption. Its
underground power supply is co-located with the
pipeline and all operational energy is 100% offset by
renewable energy certificates. The plant is covered
by Australia’s largest living green roof and there is a
225 hectare revegetated coastal park for public use.
Long intake and outlet tunnels help protect the coast
and marine environment.
Big brands indicted in Indonesian toxic
water scandal
Greenpeace International investigations have revealed
the dumping of industrial wastewater containing
a cocktail of toxic and hazardous chemicals, and
caustic water, directly into the Citarum River, West Java.
International fashion brands, including Gap, Banana Republic
and Old Navy are linked to this pollution through
their direct business relations with PT Gistex Group; the
company behind the polluting facility.
“Gap’s latest advertising campaign declares that
we should ‘Be Bright’, but by collaborating with toxic
suppliers Gap’s clothes are turning the Citarum into a
multi-coloured mess. Gap and other big brands need to
work with their suppliers in Indonesia and elsewhere to
urgently eliminate all uses of hazardous chemicals from
their supply chains and products before it is too late,” said
Ashov Birry, Toxic-Free Water Campaigner, Greenpeace
Southeast Asia.
The report “Toxic Threads: Polluting Paradise” details
how the PT Gistex facility has taken advantage of a system
that requires little transparency about its activities
and where inadequate laws are failing to prevent the
release of hazardous chemicals. Other companies linked
to the PT Gistex Group include Brook Brothers – which
has outfitted 39 of the 44 American Presidents, including
Barack Obama – Marubeni Corporation, Adidas Group
and H&M.
A wide range of hazardous substances – including nonylphenol
and tributyl phosphate – were identified in the
water samples taken from the PT Gistex facility’s discharge
outfalls. Many of these chemicals are toxic, while some
have hormone-disrupting and highly persistent properties.
The investigations also revealed wastewater from one of
the smaller outfalls to be extremely alkaline or ‘caustic’
Industrial wastewater containing hazardous chemicals, discharged
directly into the Citarum River by the Gistex Textile Division. Lagadar
village, Kabupaten Bandung.
Photo Courtesy : © Andri Tambunan / Greenpeace
(pH 14) indicating that this wastewater had not received
even the most basic treatment before discharge.
“People living along this river, that rely upon its water,
have a right to know what is being released into it, and
the customers of the international brands like Gap have
a right to know what chemicals are being used to make
their clothes,” added Birry.
The textile industry is currently one of the major contributors
to industrial toxic water pollution in West-Java,
with 68% of industrial facilities on the Upper Citarum producing
textiles. Greenpeace’s Detox campaign demands
fashion brands commit to zero discharge of all hazardous
chemicals by 2020 and work with their suppliers around
the world to disclose all releases of hazardous chemicals
from their facilities to communities at the site of the water
pollution. Launched in July 2011, the campaign has
already convinced 17 international brands including
Valentino, Levi’s and Zara to commit to Detox, mobilising
over a half a million activists, fashionistas, bloggers and
designers.
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