The Gold Coast Desalination Plant, located in Tugun converts sea water into drinking water.
As a climate-resilient source of water, the plant supplies drinking water into the SEQ Water Grid every week, and ramps up supply in times of flood or drought, or when conventional water treatment plants are offline, undergoing maintenance or an upgrade. It uses an advanced technology called reverse osmosis to remove the salt and produce drinking water that meet the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
The plant can supply up to 133 ML/day – enough water for about 300,000 houses.
In response to the combined level of the Water Grid dams dipping below 60%, the Gold Coast Desalination Plant increased production from Tuesday 15 September 2020.
The plant was built in response to the Millennium Drought and began operation in February 2009 and was used to supplement drinking water supplies that year. Based on population growth and demand, the desalination plant may be required to supplement peak demand on the Gold Coast in the next decade.
This hour-long virtual ‘armchair’ tour will take you through the process of separating dissolved salts and other minerals from seawater to produce drinking water.
Seqwater looks forward to welcoming you to our virtual tour of the Gold Coast Desalination Plant.
Tour participants will need to ensure they have the following equipment available and in working order prior to the virtual tour:
What you need to join the virtual tour:
- Computer with webcam, audio and speakers (headphones with mic preferable)
- Internet access
Joining instructions will be sent to you closer to the tour.
If you have any questions, please contact our Seqwater Events team: events@seqwater.com.au
