Adelaide Laboratory

The CSIRO Land and Water Adelaide Laboratory is located in the south-eastern corner of suburban Adelaide, against the west-facing slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges. As such it has a mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm to hot, dry summers. Adelaide is the second largest location for CSIRO Land and Water.

CSIRO Land and Water’s Adelaide Laboratory boasts a distinguished history of scientific achievement and service to Australia's primary industries. Based at the Waite Campus, Australia’s premier centre for agricultural and environmental research, our Adelaide Laboratory is collocated with a range of partner organisations with expertise in plant biotechnology, cereal breeding, sustainable agriculture, wine and horticulture and land management.

For more information on our Adelaide laboratory, read the factsheet (PDF, 227 kb)

Research

Major CSIRO Land and Water research areas based in Adelaide include:

• Hydrology – Solutions to water supply and management issues that consider both quantity and quality of water, surface and groundwater processes, resource and environmental security, and urban and rural agricultural uses.
• Environmental Biogeochemistry – Science-based solutions to urban, industrial and regulatory environmental problems to ensure land and water contamination does not adversely affect human or environmental health.
• Catchment and Aquatic Systems – Management options to sustain and improve the health of aquatic ecosystems by understanding how these systems respond to changes in landuse and climate.
• Urban and Industrial Water – Provision of science-based solutions to the key components of modern water management – water use and reuse, source protection, and the protection of downstream waters – to underpin the management of the Total Water Cycle of Australia’s metropolitan and industrial areas.

Testing and Services

CSIRO Land and Water in Adelaide provides access to state-of-the-art testing and analytical services and facilities on a fee for service basis, including an extensive range of chemical analyses on plant, soil and water samples for inorganic nutrients, trace elements and heavy metals; XRF spectrometry; infrared soil analysis; an Isotope Analysis Service; and Mineralogical Services.

The Laboratory also runs an active public seminar series.