Pipeline plan for Esperance

A STUDY into the feasibility of building a seawater pipeline from Esperance to Kalgoorlie-Boulder will start immediately.

Thiess Contractors, Macquarie Bank and the Water Corporation will undertake the study which is to be finished by August.

The study aims to determine the viability of providing seawater for the Goldfields mining industry.

Currently most mining operations in the central and southern Goldfields region use non-potable water drawn from nearby hypersaline groundwater sources.

Water Resources Minister Kim Hames said if the pipeline proved feasible, a small desalination plant could also be set up in Kalgoorlie-Boulder to augment the city’s drinking and commercial water supplies.