LAST MAIN PIPE LAID IN DESALINATION PROJECT

Acting Premier Paul Lucas today inspected the last main piece of pipe to be laid in the $1.2 billion Gold Coast Desalination Project, linking it into the Gold Coast’s water supplies.

“There are now more than 2500 of these main pipes in the ground along this 25 kilometre stretch, from the desalination plant to a reservoir at Worongary,” said Mr Lucas.

“Workers will fill in the gaps with valves, vents and other “tie ins” over the next few weeks.

“This puts us in the final countdown to the desalination plant pumping out its first water.

“We’ve come such a long way since work first started back in early 2007 and the desalination plant is now more than 90% finished.

“In a little over two months the first water will flow through it and by mid January the desalination plant will be able to produce up to 125 million litres of water a day.

“That’s about a fifth of South East Queensland’s water needs coming from a supply that is not reliant on rainfall.”

Mr Lucas said some of the most important work now being done was out of sight, 20 metres underwater and 1.2 kilometres out to sea.

“A team of 6 divers are hard at work installing 2 diffuser pipes on the seabed, which will discharge water along their 150 metre length.

“They’ll also be fixing the inlet “cage” in place in coming days, when the weather permits.

“This half million dollar, 5 metre tall cage will sit over the inlet tunnel to protect marine creatures and the natural environment around the inlet.

“Fish will be able to swim against the flow through this structure and will not be sucked into the system.

“The inlet tunnel has now been flooded, taking the first sea water into the desalination plant.

“This means commissioning and testing can soon start on the reverse osmosis plant which will remove salt and other impurities to produce valuable new drinking water.”

The Gold Coast City Council is also working to finish its 10km section of pipeline, which will link the Worongary reservoir to the Southern Regional Water Pipeline.

Media contact: Matt Klar 0437 435 223