Managed Aquifer Recharge - Projects

Floreat MAR trial

Figure: cross section of an infiltration gallery, beneath a golf course.

Treated wastewater flows into the system via the inflow pipe. This water comes from the nearby Subiaco Wastewater Treatment Plant and would otherwise be disposed of in the ocean. The water flows down through a chamber into covered galleries - engineered trenches that facilitate the infiltration of water into the ground ( Figure ).

The galleries consist of parallel slotted pipes containing either gravel or open plastic structures. The top and sides of the galleries are covered in geotextile material to prevent topsoil from entering the galleries, while the base is open to the in situ soil. The trenches are about 10 metres above the water table to allow water quality improvements to occur in the in situ soil before recharging the aquifer.

Other MAR sites

Halls Head indirect reuse project

The viability of different types of managed aquifer recharge systems are being trialled at the Halls Head Wastewater Treatment Plant. The first project investigated water quality improvements associated with using infiltration ponds in fractured limestone. This next stage will be the second field site to assess the feasibility of using covered infiltration galleries similar to those at the Floreat site but with a different source of water and different aquifer materials.

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Kwinana Wastewater Reclamation Plant

The Kwinana Wastewater Reclamation Plant is the site of the third field test. The project is using high quality, low salt water produced by the plant to determine its impact on aquifer material sourced from the Gnangara Mound. The project will replicate the potential use of high quality water treated by reverse osmosis or other technologies to replenish the Gnangara Mound. In addition, studies will be undertaken to determine the fate and behaviour of microbial pathogens and chemical contaminants under these water quality conditions.

Kwinana Wastewater Reclamation Plant