Will Toowoomba Regional Council be hoodwinked over coal seam gas water ...
A senior staffer at the Toowoomba Regional Council is laughing into his corn flakes this morning because he probably thinks he's hoodwinked yet another gaggle of Councillors into thinking that coal seam gas water is poisonous and can't be treated to potable standard.
It's part of a 'do anything say anything' mission to build his life's work - a stand alone recycled water plant in Toowoomba with the offtake poured into Cooby Dam for human consumption. (Funny how the estimated cost just keeps on going up and up and up!)
Towns to the west of Toowoomba will use coal seam gas water for their town water supply.
Premier Anna Bligh wants to investigate using it for all communities through to Brisbane.
The State opposition wants to use the Moonie to Brisbane pipeline as an interim measure to pump coal seam gas water to Toowoomba.
But no.
Not for this senior staffer.
Piping coal seam gas water throughout the region would drought-proof it.
And he can't have that.
Then there would be no need for his recycled water plant.
It's a shame that the people of Toowoomba and the surrounding communities once again face becoming the sacrificial lambs in his grand plan.
Surely Toowoomba Regional Council's time would be better spend listening to experts who don't have a personal agenda and then getting on and drought-proofing the region.
Does the Toowoomba Regional Council really wish to face the next election as the Council which turned their back on drought-proofing the region to satisfy one person's bizarre personal mission or as the Council which adopted sensible measures to supplement the region's water supplies?
Coal seam gas water - if you don't use it, it's just going to evaporate.
And, Toowoomba Regional Council, it will evaporate on your watch ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 7:03 AM
7 Comments:
Thay also have to go on about this big long pipeline from the coal seam gas costing so much.
Do they think we are stupid, there is already a pipeline to Dalby, can't we connect into that as well? That would save millions of dollars, both councils could work in together.
From my observations of this new council, they are weak, just like the previous council. They all want the glamour, the money, but aren't willing to get of their butts and do the right thing for our community.
My report card on this council is minus 2 out of 10. They haven't achieved anything yet, except give themselves the maximum pay packet.
8:11 AM, May 07, 2008
The Chronicle:
TRC talks to Arrow about pumping in waste water
May 07, 2008
TOOWOOMBA Regional Council (TRC) is considering every possible solution to the region's water woes.
Toowoomba regional councillors Peter Taylor (mayor), Paul Antonio (deputy mayor), Ian Orford and Mike Williams yesterday met with delegates from coal seam gas producer Arrow Energy to discuss using waste water from its gasfields.
University of Southern Queensland Associate Professor Mark Porter, head of the university's Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering department, also joined the group. TRC Water Services spokesman Paul Antonio described the meeting as beneficial, but stressed "there is no silver bullet solution with water".
"There are no proposals on the table, but we have begun a conversation to find out what are the opportunities with the gas development in our region," Cr Antonio said.
"Some of our fears about the lifespan of the gasfields were allayed as it appears the gasfields will develop over a long period of time. But there's enormous issues with pumping the water, treating the water to desalinate it to drinking standards and then what we do with the brine-stream," Cr Antonio said.
Cr Antonio said TRC is drawing on the experience of the Dalby Regional Council (DRC). DRC's Treatment Manager Terry Fagg recently led a six-month treatment trial of waste water from gasfields and said DRC is considering whether to build a new water-treatment plant beside its existing desalination plant to specifically treat this new source of water.
9:38 AM, May 07, 2008
It's going to look a bit odd if all the towns west of Toowoomba use gas water and it's piped to Brisbane but the TRC refuses to use it because they were told it was poisonous. They are going to look pretty stupid.
9:54 AM, May 07, 2008
ABC News:
Council considers pipeline water plan
Tue May 6, 2008
The Toowoomba Regional council says it will consider the possibility of using the Moonie to Brisbane pipeline to cart water from coal seam gas fields in the Surat Basin.
The pipeline used to transport oil to Brisbane, but is being decommissioned and the State Opposition says it could be upgraded to ease Toowoomba's water shortage.
Councillors are meeting Arrow Energy executives today to find out if it is feasible to use water from its gas fields near Dalby.
Mayor Peter Taylor says the council is keeping an open mind when it comes to water.
"Today we're not excited this is going to be a solution for us all," he said.
"It can be a solution, but it would be at some significant cost and is it possible it is doable in the long-term, is this a sustainable solution, they're the sort of issues we're going to work through."
11:06 AM, May 07, 2008
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8:37 PM, May 07, 2008
The new Toowoomba Regional Councillors, ... , are going to come up against the same obstructions that the Toowoomba opponents of the proposal for the people to drink recycled sewage water encountered.
That is the print media, the Televison media, the left wing journalists and the State Labor Govt. who are all for US drinking this water. The Toowoomba people fought against all of this and WON the so called unwinnable poll. We do not want to be "guinea Pigs" for the big international companies ... who are waiting to buy our water infrastructure from the Government. I don't think the new Council is weak. They are just starting to realise the complex nature of this problem. They will have to do a lot of investigating of their own, the same as we did.
8:57 PM, May 07, 2008
What the Toowoomba City Council said about coal seam gas water on the Water Futures website:
What is Coal Seam Gas Water?
The Coal Seam Gas (CSG) Water Management Study, prepared by Parsons Brinkerhoff for the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, and presented in August 2004, states:
“CSG production involves extracting methane from coal seams by reducing groundwater pressure that keeps the methane trapped in the coal. A primary by-product of this process is water, which is often rich in salts and other constituents that render it unsuitable for many direct beneficial uses.
The predicted large volume and variable quality of this water make water management a key issue associated with CSG production. The amount of water that must be pumped off appears to vary not only from basin to basin, but also during the life of individual production wells.”
What is in Coal Seam Gas Water?
The level of dissolved salts and other contaminants in CSG water varies from place to place. Information provided to Toowoomba City Council by Sunwater indicates that the CSG water from the Chinchilla area has a total dissolved salts (TDS) concentration of about 2,000 – 3,000 mg/L.
Given its close contact with coal and gas, CSG water would be expected to contain hydrocarbons, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, that are known to be carcinogenic. Water associated with coal and/or gas seams is also known to contain elevated concentrations of radionuclides including radium, uranium and radon. It appears that no studies have been done to determine the actual concentrations of these contaminants in the water in question.
Would CSG water need to be treated before it could be used for town water supply?
Yes. To treat the water to a standard suitable for town water supply would require at least reverse osmosis, or a similar technology, to remove the dissolved salts and radionuclides. It is also likely that some form of pre-treatment would be necessary to reduce hydrocarbons, which are removed by reverse osmosis, but would shorten membrane life and significantly increase operating costs if present in the feed water.
Desalination of enough CSG water to replace the indirect potable reuse component of Water Futures would produce between 10,000 and 15,000 tonnes of additional salt waste for disposal. The salt waste might also contain elevated levels of radionuclides.
What would it cost to treat CSG water as a replacement for the indirect potable reuse component of Water Futures?
At this point, Queensland Gas Company has not been able to provide Toowoomba City Council with detailed information about the quality of the CSG water, which is needed to determine reliable costings. We have, however, made some estimates based on the best information available.
These costings assume the following:
1. 5,000 megalitres/year to be treated.
2. Includes 180km pipeline and pumping stations required to transport the water to Toowoomba.
3. Treatment by desalination (pre-treatment not included)
4. Target water quality as for Water Futures
Estimated capital cost for treatment and delivery of CSG water = $150 million
end.
The Toowoomba City Council was not interested in pursuing the issue - they just wanted it to die on the vine.
Much is made of the salt waste remaining after it is cleaned but the same salt waste will need to be dealt with after the water evaporates if it is not used.
Funny how the proposed recycled water plant now will cost $150 million.
The coal seam gas industry is here. It is supported by industry and government. The water byproduct needs a home and would drought-proof the region.
9:05 PM, May 07, 2008
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