Premier Colin Barnett has announced a $450 million plan to double the capacity of its desalination plant near Binningup, as it attempts to secure future water needs for communities stretching from the Perth metropolitan area to the Goldfields.
Mr Barnett said today the government had committed to increasing capacity at the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant (SSDP) to provide more than 100 billion litres of drinking water each year.
The first stage of the Binningup plant was built over the last two and a half years at a cost of $955 million, and will be fully commissioned by the end of the year.
Mr Barnett said the expansion would start delivering water into the Integrated Water Supply Scheme that supplies Perth, Mandurah, the Goldfields and towns along the way by December 2012 at a cost of $450million.
The Premier said $300 million would be funded through the Water Corporation’s $3.6 billion, four-year capital works program.
“By making the decision to expand the plant now, we can take advantage of the already established, skilled workforce at the SSDP site,” Mr Barnett said.
“The expansion of the SSDP was necessary because we can no longer rely on rainfall run-off into our dams as a major source of drinking water.
“This was never more apparent than at the end of the 2010 winter which was the driest since records began.
“We had to act decisively as a Government and take direct action now. This decision is a major step in providing security to our water supplies even in the driest of years.”
Water Minister Bill Marmion said that when the expanded plant was completed, half of the water needed annually to supply Perth and surrounding areas would be supplied from climate independent sources.
“Expansion of this plant using the existing team of contractors and engineers is both cost and time effective,” Mr Marmion said.
“I am delighted to see the first stage of the SSDP reaching a successful conclusion and I am confident this much-needed new water source will ensure Perth’s water future.”
