The first desalinated water has been produced from the Adelaide Desalination Plant, signalling a historic milestone for the $1.83 billion project.

Minister for Water Paul Caica today visited the plant to taste, for the first time, the pure desalinated water now being produced from the reverse osmosis filtration system.

“The production of desalinated water from the plant is fantastic news for South Australia as we continue towards completion of the 100 gigalitre Adelaide Desalination Plant by the end of 2012,” Mr Caica said.

“This milestone is a critical step in building the desalination plant that will ensure South Australians have a secure water supply completely independent of climatic conditions.”

Mr Caica said this desalinated water, which is known as ‘permeate’ by water experts, will now begin its post-treatment phase, when minerals such as lime and fluoride are added to ensure it meets SA Water’s stringent drinking water quality guidelines.

“Following post-treatment, SA Water will begin a rigorous testing regime to ensure the desalinated water quality is suitable for blending with treated water from the Happy Valley Reservoir and once they are satisfied, the desalinated water can be delivered to customer taps,’’ he said.

“From next month, the volume of desalinated water entering the SA Water supply network will progressively increase until the plant reaches full capacity by the end of 2012.

“At capacity, the plant will produce up to 300 million litres of drinking water per day, providing up to half of Adelaide’s water needs.

“Everyone involved has been working incredibly hard on this project, and they are committed to delivering high quality desalinated drinking water to the people of Adelaide.”

SA Water Chief Executive John Ringham said he was incredibly proud of the work done by the team at the desalination plant, in delivering such a complex project and wanted to reassure customers that the Corporation would continue to deliver a high-quality and safe product to their taps.

“The desalination treatment process, including ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis, removes salt and impurities from the water and turns it in to fresh, drinking water,” he said.

“Remineralisation is the next vital step in the plant’s process which allows beneficial compounds to be added to the water ensuring it can safely enter the SA Water supply system.

The desalinated water produced from the Adelaide plant will be treated with the following compounds:

• Lime - added to improve the taste of water
• Fluoride - added to the water to meet Health SA requirements
• Chlorine - disinfects the water as it travels through the transfer pipeline system to the Happy Valley Water Filtration Plant

“These same compounds are added to our existing water supplies,’’ Mr Ringham said.

“This is all part of our commitment to ensuring safe and high quality drinking water is delivered to all of our customers across the State.”

Customers who already receive water from the Happy Valley water supply system (generally those south of the CBD) will be the first to have desalinated water running through their taps next month.