Our Water Supply – Tugan Desalination Plant and Hinze Dam
Photograph of Hinze Dam on the Gold Coast at full capacity. The original uploader was Triki-wiki at English WikipediaW., CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hinze_Dam_-_Gold_Coast.JPG
SEQWater provides drinking water to the South-East Queensland water grid. Sources include the desalination plant at Tugun and numerous surface reservoirs such as the Hinze Dam in the Gold Coast hinterland. (https://www.seqwater.com.au/).
Travel by comfortable coach for a tour of these locations.
The Tugun desalination plant turns seawater into drinking water by the process of reverse osmosis. While it is commonly said the Tugun desalination plant is ‘mothballed’, that is not correct. The plant supplies water to the City of Gold Coast though it operates at reduced capacity.
The Hinze Dam is the main water supply for the Gold Coast region.
Both plants are connected by pipeline to the SEQ water grid (Gold Coast to Noosa and west to the Upper Brisbane Valley), as part of the strategy to ensure water supply in event of prolonged drought.
The coach will leave Eagle Junction (Bus Stop 27, Park Av, between Sydney St and Junction Rd) at 7.30 am, with a second pick-up at Coopers Plains (Brittain Park, Troughton Rd, opposite Sherrington St) at 8.00 am. Parking is available at both locations, either on-street or off-street (Brittain Park). The first pick-up is close to Eagle Junction rail station.
After the second pick-up, the coach will go directly to the desalination plant at Tugun, where we will have a guided tour by staff of SEQwater and Veolia (the operator). Then we go to Hinze Dam where we can tour the dam and there are picnic facilities and a café overlooking the impoundment.
The return journey will drop off at both pick-up locations. Expect to return to Eagle Junction by mid-afternoon.
Health and Safety: Fully enclosed flat-heeled shoes, full-length trousers and long sleeves are needed for the visit to the desalination plant. Hard hats, vests and safety glasses are supplied. A good level of fitness and mobility is required. There may be some steps to negotiate.
Bring: a hat, camera, sunglasses, sunscreen and wind jacket.
Numbers: The trip is limited to 30 people.
Cost (not including lunch): $50 per person (members), $60 per person (non-members)
Registration: When registering, please indicate whether you want to be picked up at Eagle Junction or Coopers Plains.
