A NEW desalination plant in Tenterfield is set to generate 70,000 litres of safe drinking water to help residents in the drought-ravaged town.
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The $120,000 plant, which arrived at Tenterfield Dam on Tuesday atop a truck that has transported thousands of hay bales to drought-stricken farmers, is on loan to council for as long as necessary, Rural Aid CEO Charles Alder said.
Council took possession of the portable reverse-osmosis filtration plant that will extend the life of the Shirley Park Bore, with the town's dam also sitting at 32 per cent.
Housed in a 20-foot shipping container, Rural Aid's salt-free desalination unit will be connected to Tenterfield's water filtration system and will use the reverse osmosis process.
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Currently, for every 10 litres of water filtered through the Shire's filtration system, one litre of water is used to process it, which in turn has to be discarded because it becomes dirty.
In Tenterfield, that is up to 70,000 litres each day, the same amount that Rural Aid's desalination unit can process each day, which will now be put back into the dam.
Mr Adler said it's the first of this type of assistance Rural Aid has provided, but there are several councils entering dire straits that he expects to put up their hands soon. The plants are assembled in Australia to order, with an eight-week lead time.
The plant isn't government funded, and neither is Rural Aid, which instead relies on corporate and individual donations.
"We've delivered 66,000 hay bales in the past 12 months to keep livestock alive, but a town can't survive without water," Mr Alder said.
From his Australia-wide perspective, he said the stretch from Tamworth to the Queensland border seems to be the most drought-affected.
More than 9000 farmers have sought assistance with the organisation which is now also extending its help to community groups who are suffering as a consequence, be it the local footy club who can't afford jerseys or insurance, or a childcare centre needing transport.
It is also running a Farm and Community Rescue service where a team of volunteers descends and does whatever infrastructural work is needed, be it painting, repairs or anything else.
"When they get tired, farmers don't have the time to contribute to their community," Mr Alder said.
He was next off to meet with Southern Downs Regional Council, but not before seeing the desalination plant offloaded into council's hands. Passersby may see the bore's input to the dam cease, as all the water transfer will now be done underground.
The inlet pipe will be now directed to the new plant, with the filtered water then sent directly to a pond in the treatment plant.
This will not only virtually eliminate losses to evaporation, but the new setup's moves to manage pressure in the bore will limit pressure changes, so that the bore may be able to operate continuously rather than the on/off process of late.