News Article: Melbourne's Water Supply
By Evan Papamichael
Friday 10 October 2007
Tapping into the correct water supply Stop the press you, must have heard about Melbourne�s dwindling water supply. What are we going to do about it? Yarra Valley Water has come up with the answer. A $3.1 billion desalination plant will be built in Wonthaggi, to connect to Melbourne�s drinking water supplies, by the end of 2011. �But will the pipeline be effective�, asks the public? We heard this question from Rusty Draper, a Melbourne resident. The answer is yes. The pipeline will be 85 km long, in between Melbourne and Wonthaggi, and it will provide an additional 150 billion litres of water, to Melbourne�s drinking demand. But will it stop there? Of course not. The plant will provide water to Melbourne, Geelong, Westernport and South Gippsland. This project will be the largest of its type in Australia. Think of how many Mums and Dads will be happy. The anxiety we Melburnians have been facing in recent years, will be driven away. No more water restrictions or panic attacks. And of course our economy, both local and state-wide, will benefit. For we all know, that farmers have been doing it tough, over the past few years. With the recent drought, our farmers� crops have failed or been destroyed. Not only was rural Victoria affected, but us city folk too. The price of fruit and vegetables sky rocketed, and the consumers suffered, in both the city and country areas, with price hikes. The desalination plant mentioned in this news style article, is the biggest boost in Melbourne�s water supply, since the Thompson Dam was built in 1982. The plant will be the largest in Australia, and will provide approximately one third of Melbourne�s yearly water requirements, without depending on our catchments receiving rainfall. Feature style article At last, mercy for Melbourne�s consumers Everyone knows some local Melburnian who has suffered in recent years. What brought on this effect? Could it be climate change, or is it simply a touch of bad luck? Well maybe it is both.I remember a time many years ago, when I was a child, we would go with my family to Brighton beach, during the scorching summer heat. After a swim, Dad would cut up a gigantic watermelon. We would get stuck into it.This was such a refreshing fruit, which would quench our thirst. And it would relieve us, and help to regain the energy we lost, after a solid swim. That was then, but what about now? Due to the petrol crisis, we cannot afford to go the sea, as often as before. But who cares about petrol and car trips? We have to keep up our nuitrition.That means eating dairy products, cereal and bread everyday, as well as vegetables and fruit. But why have Victorian farmers, cut back on producing certain staple products? Recent droughts, it seems, have spoilt local farmers� crops in rural Victoria. Is there a solution to the problem, or will there ever be? This is where Yarra Valley Water comes into the scene. You must have heard in the media, about a desalination plant. It is going to be built in Wonthaggi. It will operate by the year 2011. Just think of it, no more water restrictions. That will be just great. Our city will have permanent drinking water supplies. So we city folk will be content. And the farmers in the rural areas, who grow and supply our fruit and vegetables, will prosper also. So much that us Melburnians went through in recent years. Insecurity, anxiety and fear. No one knew where our destiny would take us. But remember, that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. The desalination plant, is the panacea, for Melbourne�s recent dwindling water supplies. Maybe now, I will be able to take my children, to the beach this summer. Not only will we go for a dip in the water, but I will be able to share, around the picnic area, some watermelon. This will quench our thirst like the good old days, when I was just a lad. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water. What a great feeling!