The Forum > General Discussion > Pumping water inland expensive
Pumping water inland expensive
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-10/groundwater-bores-pulling-up-salt-water-off-kwinana-coast/10594444
Sea water sucked 1 kilometre inland as Kwinana bores placed under intense pressure
Groundwater bores are designed to draw fresh water out of the ground, but the pressure on bores has been so intense in some locations along Perth's south coast that the bores have begun pulling up salt water instead.
A Department of Water and Environmental Regulation report has found the amount of groundwater being extracted in the Kwinana industrial area was causing sea water from deeper underground to rise up and take its place.
Effectively it meant the sea water was being sucked back under the land, and once salt water moved into stores of fresh water the damage was difficult to reverse.
The department claimed the issue of sea water turning bores salty was the biggest problem facing groundwater users — residents, market gardeners and industry — along the coast.
Fresh water and sea water typically meet along the coast, with lighter fresh water sitting on top of a wedge of salt water. But in parts of the Kwinana industrial area that balance has changed, and the so-called "seawater interface" has pushed up to 1 kilometre inland.
Drawing more water from fewer freshwater bores not only increased the risk of more saltwater contamination, but also threatened to disturb decades-old contamination plumes laying dormant underground.
** More people in the area more underground water would be needed, and you want to bring in billion of liters of salt water ** Note last 2 paragraphs.