Perth Seawater Desalination Plant
Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring
As part of the Water Corporation’s operating licence issued by the Department of Environment and Conservation, certain dissolved oxygen levels must be met in the deep basin of Cockburn Sound. For this reason, dissolved oxygen is measured at three permanently anchored buoys as per the map - North, Central and South. If there are instrument problems, the Water Corporation can substitute manual sampling.
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In general, the dissolved oxygen levels from the buoys are reading low, and actual dissolved oxygen levels are higher. Because the instruments are under reading, these data are conservative and ensure that Cockburn Sound is protected. Water Corporation has commissioned an ongoing program to improve the accuracy of the instruments.
The links below show the dissolved oxygen data, since the desalination plant began operations in November 2006. Manual sampling and the Real Time Monitoring System Data results are presented in fortnightly intervals for the 24 hour median (similar to a 24 hour average) dissolved oxygen reading as required by the operating licence.
