Recycled water is being pumped into the underground aquifers that provide Perth’s drinking water in order to help drought-proof the city against climate change.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) recently approved an application for the Western Australian water authority to double the capacity of its groundwater replenishment scheme; this will bring the amount of recycled water pumped into the Gnangara Mound to 28 gigalitres per year.

This proposal will see the Water Corporation construct a 12.8km pipeline from a proposed recycled water plant at Beenyup in the northern suburbs to two aquifer points, from where it will be pumped into the Yarragadee and Leederville aquifers.

The Beenyup recycled water facility will process around 14 gigalitres of wastewater annually to potable standard before pumping it into the aquifers. Every year, the same amount of water will be extracted from those aquifers and once more treated for use as drinking water.

According to Wendell Ela, professor of desalination and water treatment at Murdoch University, pumping recycled water into the underground system rather than using it immediately it has been treated to a potable standard, reduces “the yuk factor.”

“That’s inevitable and it’s not a bad thing because any time we talk about water we should be interested in the water we are getting and the quality we are getting,” Ela said.

The aquifer also provides a large, cheap storage tank which allows the Water Corporation to replenish groundwater steadily and withdraw only when needed.

According to the Water Corporation spokeswoman Clare Lugar, the groundwater replenishment scheme is part of a long-term plan to secure water supplies in response to climate change as part of the organisation’s three strategies for water security.

“Groundwater replenishment ticks two of these boxes – increases water recycling and developing a new source,” Lugar said. “It is a climate-independent source of water, and the new plant at Beenyup will have the capacity to supply the same amount of water used by 100,000 homes each year.”

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