The groundwater replenishment concept
| More information | |
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 About the Trial | |
| The treatment process | |
| Frequently asked questions | |
| Glossary | |
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Groundwater replenishment is a process where very highly treated wastewater is injected into deep underground aquifers to top up natural water supplies, mixing over many years until the two are virtually indistinguishable.
It could contribute an additional 25-35 gigalitres per year to our drinking water supplies by 2015; enough to supply up to 100,000 households.
This approach has been used in Orange County, California USA, where they’ve been recycling water using the same processes, and adding it to their groundwater drinking supplies since the early 1970s.
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Advantages
Replenishing groundwater has the important advantage of restoring the natural balance of the water table, as well as banking water for later use. As a community, we draw enormous quantities of water from underground aquifers to meet our drinking, industrial and irrigation needs, so topping up our supplies with water that is of drinking water standard could bring significant benefits to future generations.
Groundwater replenishment is just one of a series of opportunities to make better use of our water resources. Some of the benefits of groundwater replenishment include:
- it makes us less dependent on rainfall as a drinking water source in a drying climate;
- it acts like a savings account in a bank – water is stored underground for use later in periods of high demand;
- it can help to maintain groundwater levels in low rainfall periods, making it an environmentally sustainable water source;
- it allows us to recycle large quantities of water;
- it makes use of existing water supply infrastructure;
- it is relatively cost effective; and
- it uses less energy than seawater desalination.
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