Alternative Water Supplies Efficiency Measures project
In 2019 the Department for Environment and Water (DEW) received funding from the Australian Government to assess the feasibility of increasing alternative water use to replace River Murray water. This project was an efficiency measures projects under the Water Efficiency Program delivered by the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture.
DEW collaborated with key stakeholders, particularly alternative water supply scheme owners and operators and SA Water to complete the study. The assessment focused on the feasibility of increasing the volume of water supplied from existing recycled water and stormwater capture and re-use schemes to replace demands currently supplied by mains water.
The study investigated the engineering solutions required, potential demands for alternative water, the volume of stormwater that could reliably be harvested to meet demands, risks associated with increasing storage of water underground, governance arrangements to support project delivery and options for River Murray entitlement return.