A consistent water supply is the lifeblood of a farm whether it is broadacre, livestock or horticulture focussed.
Soaks and dams provide a valuable source of readily accessible water for farms, particularly during the summer months. However, water from a soak or dam may require further treatment before it can be used as it may contain biological, chemical or physical contaminants. E. Coli, nitrates and suspended clay particles are all commonly found in farm dams and soaks. Moerk Water are part of the WaterSmart Dams project (led by the Grower Group Alliance in partnership with DPIRD) which is developing water planning tools and improving grower knowledge about dam treatment systems.
Climate change is increasingly changing rainfall patterns resulting in prolonged drought conditions and more damaging storms that do not produce significant run off. Once surface water has been depleted onsite, many farmers are forced to either cart water in or drill for groundwater to carry them through dry periods. However, as Western Australia has some of the saltiest groundwater in the country many farmers are faced with groundwater sources too salty to use, forcing them to rely on water carting.
Desalination, the process of producing low salinity water from salty water, allows for salty bores to be turned into a valuable water source for farms. Moerk Water are also part of the WaterSmart Farms project, a DPIRD program that showcases how desalination systems can provide sustainable water for farms. By treating saline bores with desalination, farmers not only secure their water supply but can also tailor the amount of salt in the product water, essentially dialling in the salt concentration required for different applications. Although desalination systems do produce a waste stream, this waste can be dealt with by a variety of methods or even used as product water itself. Latest generation desalination systems can also produce very low volume waste streams.
Below are two previous project from Moerk Water on how desalination played a key part in water sustainability.
A community in Eastern Papua New Guinea has a dry season that lasts for three months, followed by unpredictable dry spells throughout the year. As a result, most wells dry out forcing the closure of schools and aid posts. Additionally, the open shallow wells in the community are contaminated with salt and microbiological material. In 2018, Moerk Water installed an automated solar powered membrane filtration unit which provides sufficient water for the 800 residents of the community. The unit is constructed from high quality, durable parts and is easy to use. Moerk Water undertook in-depth training of daily operators who have been operating the unit since installation. The community in eastern Papua New Guinea is a gateway to islands off the coast. The water treatment unit supplies not only the community itself but also the residents of the islands off the coast with a source of clean water.
Two common contaminants in groundwater in Western Australia are salt and dissolved iron. A sheep farmer north of Perth was running out of water during the summer months and only had brackish groundwater with a high level of dissolve iron as an alternative water supply. Moerk Water installed an easy to use, automated membrane filtration system with an iron removal pretreatment system to secure the water supply on the farm. Following the success of the first unit, Moerk Water installed a second membrane filtration unit on the farm with 4 times the capacity of the first. These units are constructed from quality materials, are built to Australian-German engineering standards and are both run on solar power meaning that they can be located anywhere on the farm and can produce water where it is needed most. Moerk Water keep in touch regularly with the client as part of its After care service program.
The WaterSmart Farms project are also examining methods to reduce the energy use of these systems and investigating the effectiveness of different waste stream disposal systems.
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