User:Peter Campbell/Desalination links

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These are articles on desalination that I have recently bookmarked.

Water revolution would turn roof-tops into catchments

Instead of planning for massive new supply projects such as the Thomson Dam, north-south pipeline or the desalination plant, the new plan maximises existing water sources through a "metropolitan integrated water cycle strategy" to make new communities more water self-sufficient, leading to billions of dollars in infrastructure savings. [?]

State's first desal order: not a drop, thanks

VICTORIA'S beleaguered desalination plant has suffered another setback with the Baillieu government declaring the state will not need its water for 2012-13, the plant's first official year of operation. Pointing to healthy and rising dam levels, water savings by Melburnians, and the fact that the plant will not be completed by its June 30 deadline, Water Minister Peter Walsh has confirmed the government had opted for zero water in its first formal order to the plant operator, the AquaSure consortium. [?]

'Blind panic' and a city running dry: the desal nightmare

MELBOURNE was ''absolutely'' at risk of running dry when the Labor government decided to build one of world's largest and most costly desalination plants says the man responsible for it: former premier Steve Bracks. Commissioned in what desal builder Thiess Degremont has described as an environment of ''blind panic'', the multi-billion- dollar desal plant was scheduled to open next week. But the controversial ''desal'' is now as much as 12 months behind schedule, dogged by overly-ambitious deadlines, bad weather, industrial trouble and, now, questions about whether its water is needed at all. [?]

A year late and a financial disaster: desal companies come clean

COMPANIES involved in Victoria's biggest construction project, the Wonthaggi desalination plant, have admitted for the first time that it is running a year late, and have launched massive legal claims against the Baillieu government to try to recoup some of their losses. As total losses for firms building the plant approach $1 billion, the state government has been served with claims by the AquaSure consortium for the loss of 70 days of production due to ''cyclonic'' weather at Wonthaggi as well as large losses from industrial action. [?]

Wonthaggi desalination plant faces four-month delay | Herald Sun

THE builders of Victoria's troubled desalination plant say "cyclonic" weather and union go-slows will delay its completion by up to four months. But Water Minister Peter Walsh vowed to hold project manager AquaSure to penalties of $1.6 million per day after the June 30 deadline. "Anything that comes out on the desal project shouldn't surprise any of us," Mr Walsh said. [?]

Desalination plant's quality hard to swallow

Wonthaggi's boron levels would make the contract dead in the water. DOCUMENTS from the Victorian Environment Protection Authority published in August 2008 show that the boron level in water from the proposed Wonthaggi desalination plant would be at least two times the level specified in the contract between the state government and the international consortium AquaSure. The contract, signed in 2009, specifies that desalinated water with boron levels greater than 0.5 milligrams per litre will attract penalties, and that with boron levels in excess of 1 milligram per litre the plant will have to cease operations. [?]

Get ready for huge rise in water bills

Some Victorian households will face water bills of up to $1200 a year under new price rises from July 1. The price of water will soar between 5 and 14 per cent across the state under new Essential Services Commission figures updated for inflation. The changes mean households will pay up to $120 a year more, depending on where they are. [?]

Desal plant debacle for builder

AUSTRALIA's biggest desalination plant, at Wonthaggi, is six to 12 months behind schedule, with cost over-runs and big financial penalties now threatening to deny the builder a return on the multibillion-dollar project. The Baillieu government is expected to face pressure for an extension of project deadlines as companies involved seek to minimise financial damage from delays. The contract stipulates that the plant must be able to produce desalinated water by December this year. [?]

Aquasure's Desalination Plant At Wonthaggi

AquaSure's contract can be broken, and it would be far cheaper if we did. There is no commercial contract that can't be broken, including the desalination contract with AquaSure. The issue is what is fair compensation. The courts would determine this on the present-day value of the contract, based on an independently determined discount rate applied to future streams of payments if the contract was fulfilled. The desal plant is not needed. Melbourne's catchment area gets more than sufficient rainfall to meet the city's existing and future needs. [?]

Melburnians face rocketing water bills to pay for desalination plant | Herald Sun

MELBURNIANS will face rocketing water bills over the next 30 years to pay for the state's desalination plant. Premier Ted Baillieu admitted today the contract signed by the former Labor Government couldn't be broken and the "white elephant'' desalination plant could cost a maximum $23.9 billion. After three months of trying to find an escape clause in the Wonthaggi plant's contract, Mr Baillieu said "there were no material savings available to government''. [?]