The prestigious US$20,000 prize, named 'The Great Man-Made River International Water Prize' has been awarded to an Australian research group studying aquifer storage and recovery – a joint venture between CSIRO Land and Water and the Department for Water Resources, South Australia.
“This award has been a great morale boost for the group. It recognises the international significance of this pioneering work, the strong scientific base and its potential in developing countries,” says Dr Peter Dillon of CSIRO Land and Water.
“The success of this work springs from eight years of committed teamwork between SA Department for Water Resources and CSIRO Land and Water.”
“The SA Department for Water Resources and CSIRO have just launched a report on the future of aquifer storage and recovery in South Australia, which will assist proponents to develop larger and more diverse sustainable projects and facilitate approval processes," says Mr Russell Martin of SA Department for Water Resources.
The research explores the use of aquifers to store urban stormwater and reclaimed water for reuse in irrigation.
Aquifersare water bearing strata just below the ground surface where water can be stored and pumped out at an economic rate, when required.
“While aquifer storage and recovery is not a new concept, what is unique about our work is the quality of the water recovered. We’ve been injecting water that is undrinkable into brackish and saline aquifers and from that, producing water that is suitable for irrigation.”
The collection and storage of urban stormwater in aquifers presents particular challenges. Stormwater runoff has flow rates up to thousands of litres per second, while aquifers can only accept water at rates of up to tens of litres per second. This means a temporary water storage solution is needed.
“Urban wetlands, which are becoming the vogue in most new urban developments for flood mitigation and water treatment, offer increased opportunities for stormwater storage and improve the quality of water before it is injected into an aquifer,” says Dr Dillon.
The research group already has six sites of aquifer storage and recovery operating in the vicinity of Adelaide and several international-scale research projects on water banking with reclaimed water and drinking water are underway.
“If our work continues we intend to set up national guidelines for how to go about injecting water into a wider range of aquifer types, covering the technical, environmental and public health and catchment management aspects,” says Dr Dillon.
The group has already run training courses in several countries and next year will host an international symposium (ISAR4) on 'management of aquifer recharge for sustainability'.
“The next stage of the project would be to look at using aquifers to produce drinking water and energy from the same sources. If this research continues, I think this could be realised within five years,” he says.
More information:
Peter Dillon, CSIRO Land and Water
+61 8 8303 8714, +61 419 820 927
Peter.Dillon@csiro.au
Marg Bryant, CSIRO Land and Water
+61 8 9333 6215
Russell Martin, SA Department for Water Resources
+61 8 84636948, +61 407 390 683
ISAR4: +61 8 8363 4399, email isar4@hartleymgt.com.au