Oakey taps bore water for drinking water supplies ...

The Chronicle:

Treated bore water for drinking

30 September 2009

Take it from Will Higgins: Oakey water is now so pure you can't taste it.

That was the Toowoomba Regional Council engineer's verdict after sampling a glass of H20 at the opening of the town's new reverse osmosis plant yesterday.

He said the bore water treated in the $4.8 million system was so clear that salt had to be added to it before it was pumped to houses - otherwise it would damage the infrastructure.

“It's terrific water,” he said over the sound of the plant which is as noisy as a night club.

The Israeli-designed system produces two megalitres of pure water every day for Oakey.

The bore water goes through a sand filter, then two lots of screens which are so fine they can take out a grain of sand.

Finally, it hits a synthetic membrane which removes the final stubborn particles of salt.

New Acland Coal Mine uses the leftover salty water.

The company pipes it 20 kilometres for reuse in its coal-washing facility.

The plant was officially opened by Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson.

“This has taken some pressure off the existing reticulated water supplies for Toowoomba which have been under significant stress for a number of years now,” he said.

See - The Chronicle - Treated bore water for drinking.