News
New Water New Growth
27th September 2004
United Utilities Australia today outlined a proposal to approximately double fresh water supplies for the Goldfields region by 2008 to a Parliamentary inquiry into water services in WA. The Goldfields-Esperance Water Supply project was presented to the Legislative Council’s Public Administration and Finance Committee before the Council’s historic first sitting in Kalgoorlie.
Project development manager Phil Endley told the inquiry that UUA planned to build a 400km pipeline carrying fresh desalinated water from Esperance to Kalgoorlie. The project would guarantee abundant fresh water for Kalgoorlie and the Goldfields at lower cost than the current supply from Perth. Perth would benefit from freeing up 10GL a year of water for use in the metropolitan area at no extra cost to the Water Corporation or taxpayers, Mr Endley said.
On September 6 Minister for Government Enterprises Nick Griffiths announced that the Government of Western Australia had requested the Economic Regulation Authority to assess the project by undertaking a review of the total cost of supplying bulk drinking water to the Goldfields. Mr Endley told the committee that the Goldfields- Esperance project would provide a state-of-the-art desalination plant at Esperance and a new pipeline capable of transporting more than 20GL a year of fresh water to Kalgoorlie. He said that gold and nickel mines in the region had expressed a growing demand for high quality water which meant that at least half the pipeline’s capacity would be taken up by industry.
The project would boost economic growth in the Goldfields along the pipeline route-Esperance, Shark Lake, Salmon Gums, Norseman, Widgiemooltha and Kalgoorlie. Fresh water demand could not currently be met throughout the region, Mr Endley said
In brief, the project provides: 20 GL a year desalination plant, 400km pipeline construction, $300 million investment, 200 jobs during construction.
UUA is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Utilities PLC, one of the world’s leading multi-service providers. The United Utilities parent company has a turnover of more than $5billion/yr and operates water utilities throughout Britain, Europe, Asia and Australia. UUA has operations in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
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