New technology in salinity fight

Water treatment technology used for the first time in Australia which may offer the next step towards fighting salinity in the Wheatbelt by making contaminated groundwater drinkable. CSIRO researchers found over a three year study, an ethanol-based bioreactor could treat acidic, salty water which was currently collected in drains. CSIRO lead researcher, Peter Franzmann said while deep drainage had been used in some regions to shift saline groundwater downstream, there were barriers to using or processing the end water because of the possible high level of contaminants. Dr Franzmann said the new technology could pre-treat water to reduce acidity, sulphates and metals before being processed through a desalination plant. The water research projects are to be outlined at the inaugural Water Innovation conference, hosted by the State Government in Perth. This article contains an image of a salt covered paddock. PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to provide a public view of this newspaper article as the copyright is held by the publisher of The Countryman. If you would like to obtain a copy of this newspaper article for research purposes, please ‘request a copy'. This article is part of the WISALTS (Whittington Interceptor Sustainable Agriculture Land Treatment Society Incorporated) Collection