Desal research facility opens in WA

WA Water Minister Bill Marmion has opened Australia’s first Desal Discovery Centre and dedicated Desal Research Facility at the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination (NCEDA) in front of hundreds of visiting international water experts.

NCEDA’s new $5 million national facilities at Murdoch University’s Rockingham campus will be used by the centre’s scientists from 13 universities and CSIRO working with industry to improve desalination technologies, and are the result of unique collaboration between state and federal governments.

At the ceremony, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water Senator Don Farrell announced that the $20 million federally funded centre has just offered $3.8m to fund 11 innovative new desalination research projects across Australia - boosting the number of NCEDA projects to 33.

Substantial commercial industry support for the new NCEDA facilities was honoured with thanks for new gold sponsorships and donations of $500,000 worth of new plant and equipment.

Murdoch University Vice Chancellor Professor Richard Higgott made a surprise announcement during proceedings, bestowing a rare Honorary Professorship on NCEDA Chief Scientific Officer David Furukawa for his outstanding pioneering contribution to desalination in Australia and worldwide over the past 40 years. It’s only the third such award Murdoch has ever made.

The National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia’s CEO, Neil Palmer, thanked the WA state government, Australian federal government and Murdoch for their foresight and support in creating the centre’s new world-class facilities and welcomed the ongoing investment.

“Our centre scientists collaborate closely with industry to develop new commercially viable solutions. Industry is making significant cash contributions to a number of these projects, which is very encouraging.

“The new state-of-the-art Rockingham Desalination Research Facility will enable scale-up from bench to pilot processes, with potential for full-scale commercial solutions.

“Our unique new Desal Discovery Centre will teach schoolchildren about water science, and how desalination works,” Palmer said.

The Desal Discovery Centre features an Edulab for hands-on water science run by a science educator, and a 3D multimedia conference centre with fly-through visuals of WA’s major desal plants. School tours begin in 2012, and a public open day will be held on 19 October as part of National Water Week.

NCEDA manages $20 million of research funding over five years from the Australian Government’s National Urban Water and Desalination Plan. The centre consortium of 13 universities and CSIRO collaborates to improve desalination technology with Australian and international research institutions, private companies, water and power utilities, and government agencies.

Groundbreaking research includes the use of nanotechnology, solar power, developing solutions to increase recycling of desal membranes, and monitoring of marine life. NCEDA is working to increase the number of Australian graduates and postgraduates with specialist skills in desalination, increase the employment of PhD students in desalination organisations and provide industry training in desalination.

Several of NCEDA’s leading research scientists, including new Murdoch University Honorary Professor David Furukawa, will give presentations at this week’s largest ever IDA World Congress on Desalination Solutions being held in Australia for the first time, at the Perth Convention Centre 5-9 September.

Sponsored by the Water Corporation with technical program coordinated by NCEDA CEO Neil Palmer, the Congress features keynote addresses by Sir Richard Branson (via satellite) and Philippe Cousteau Jr: www.idadesal.org.

For news on NCEDA, Australian desalination and the IDA World Congress, visit: www.desalination.edu.au. You can follow NCEDA on Twitter: @DiscoverDesal.