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16 March 2009
Australia’s growing experience in desalination is being sought
globally, with international professional services company GHD
chosen to provide engineering services for the US300 million
Carlsbad Desalination Project in the United States.
Located about 50 km north of San Diego, California, the Carlsbad
desalination plant will provide about 190 ML of high quality
drinking water per day – enough for 300,000 people.
Construction on the facility, which is being developed by
Poseidon Resources, will begin in 2009 and the plant is expected to
be operational in 2011.
Changing weather patterns, leading to prolonged drought in some
areas, have seen governments commit billions of dollars to
desalination projects, with the International Desalination
Association reporting a 40 percent increase in desalination
capacity globally in the first half of 2008 alone.
GHD has been involved in most of the major desalination projects
in Australia including the proposed A3.1 billion facility planned
for Victoria, which will be the largest desalination plant in the
southern hemisphere.
GHD Director Nick Apostolidis said prolonged droughts combined
with dramatic improvements in desalination technology over the past
decade had made it more competitive to alternative new sources of
water from both an economic and environmental perspective.
“As more countries adapt to climate change we’ll see more
desalination projects implemented throughout the world,” he
said.
In 2008, GHD appointed Gary Crisp as its Technical Leader for
Desalination. Mr Crisp oversaw the construction of Australia’s
first desalination plant, the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant at
Kwinana, as desalination manager for the Water Corporation of
Western Australia. GHD was involved in the technical evaluation of
tenders for the plant and provided designs for the plant’s pump
stations and pipelines.
In his role as Technical Leader, Mr Crisp is now assisting the
Queensland Government to deliver the 125 ML per day desalination
project at Tugan, on the Gold Coast. GHD carried out the site
selection study for the facility on the Queensland Government’s
behalf.
GHD is also involved in the Sydney Desalination Project at
Kurnell, providing engineering and environmental advice. The
company recently delivered the Environmental Effects Statement for
the proposed Victorian desalination plant and is providing
technical and engineering advisory services to the Victorian
Government on that project.
In South Australia, GHD carried out pre-feasibility studies for
a desalination facility to supply BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam
mine.
Mr Apostolidis said: “In a world impacted by climate change the
traditional water supply systems will not be able to provide the
water supply security our communities expect. We will need a
portfolio approach to water supply security. Cities of the future
such as San Diego will have desalination in their portfolio and we
are proud to be assisting Poseidon Resources on such an important
project.”
GHD will work with US-based Butier Engineering on the Carlsbad
project, providing oversight and independent assessment of the
performance of the engineering procurement construction contractor
and specialist knowledge and technical skills in sustainable water
management practices.
The project will be managed from GHD’s office in Irvine,
California. GHD has recently undertaken four strategic mergers in
the US to build its core water and wastewater services in the
American market. The company now has 18 offices across the US.
For further information, contact:
Sonia Adams