COM: Port Stanvac Desalination Plant | 100gL | $1.8b

[fabricator]

What a mob of wankers.

If they loose money on the deal and go broke, who cares ?
Its not as if the company setup solely for this project has any long term future anyway, aside from the 20 year maintance contract.

Methinks the left hand is doing one thing, the right another and the brain was never there in the first place. I thought you were driving etc. This would explains the delays, things being dropped, someone dieing.

[Jim Boukas]

Another Labour Government waste of money!!!!! Well done Mikey and Foiley!!!

[metro]

Another Labour Government waste of money!!!!! Well done Mikey and Foiley!!!

firstly you spelt 'Labor' wrong

and do you think the Liberal's dont waste money?? National Wine Centre? Southern Expressway? Hindmarsh Island Bridge?

your comment would fit in better on AdelaideNow

[Waewick]

What has the Liberal governmnet got to do with this? how is this a who can piss the furthest competition?

your comment belongs on Adelaidenow if anything.

comparing poor government with poor government isn't going to help anything.

[Ho Really]

Another Labour Government waste of money!!!!! Well done Mikey and Foiley!!!

firstly you spelt 'Labor' wrong

and do you think the Liberal's dont waste money?? National Wine Centre? Southern Expressway? Hindmarsh Island Bridge?

your comment would fit in better on AdelaideNow

Stupid arguments. None of those you have mentioned have been failures in the long run. Tourists still visit the National Wine Centre and functions still go ahead there (that include Labor members). Southern Expressway may have been a laughing stock but at least now you only have have of it to finish. The Hindmarsh Island Bridge (some say to nowhere) is being used whatever it costed. As for the desal plant, this government should have done much better, that's all. We are stuck with it now and need to make sure it does its job properly when required or else many of us will be up shit creek.

Cheers

[Omicron]

Completely off topic, I know, but the Wine Centre is a really nice building for functions, although strangely enough the wine list always seems to be rather average.

[Waewick]

Completely off topic, I know, but the Wine Centre is a really nice building for functions, although strangely enough the wine list always seems to be rather average.

[King]

I'm sorry, but not every wine centre stocks a '74 Dom Perignon.

[Benski81]

Another Labour Government waste of money!!!!! Well done Mikey and Foiley!!!

Hang on, firstly the article is hyped and sensatinalistic and all it is really saying is that through the company's own incompentence THEY have lost THEIR profit on the project. It in no way suggests that the desal plant was a waste of money, you're seeing something that's not there.

They put in a tender for the project, won and now can't deliver on their promises. This has nothing to do with the government, it's their fault and their problem.

[peas_and_corn]

Completely off topic, I know, but the Wine Centre is a really nice building for functions, although strangely enough the wine list always seems to be rather average.

I certainly agree with this. Also Carlton Draught as beer choice? Blegh.

[skyliner]

Not as bad as the QLD desal plant at Tugun. Built on the cheap, then it scaled up in the piping with extensive valve degeneration . Had to close it and address the problems. RE Adelaide - it would be a major mistake to let that stop - being the driest state in the driest continent and having just had a drought. Let's hope it keeps moving - esp looking at an increased metropolitan population in the future.

SA - STATE ON THE RISE

[Aidan]

Not as bad as the QLD desal plant at Tugun. Built on the cheap, then it scaled up in the piping with extensive valve degeneration . Had to close it and address the problems. RE Adelaide - it would be a major mistake to let that stop - being the driest state in the driest continent and having just had a drought. Let's hope it keeps moving - esp looking at an increased metropolitan population in the future.

We will definitely need more desalination in the future, but the Reverse Osmosis equipment will soon become obsolete. Capacitative DeIonization, Nanotube Membrane Filtration and Forward Osmosis technology all promise more cost effective desalination once they're commercialized.

The trouble is, we don't know when they'll be commercialized. And when El Niño comes back, we will need more water, so it was sensible not to wait before constructing the desalination plant. And much of the infrastructure there is compatible with any desal technology. But we did waste far too much money on RO capacity.

[rhino]

A little bit of common sense talk re the Desalination Plant and the end of the drought, from Don Farrell in today's paper (from an article about a new wetlands to store water from First Creek to water the Botanical Gardens):

"Unfortunately in Australia, the natural cycle is flood and drought," Mr Farrell said.

"There's not much we can do about that other than plan for the future and the way to plan for the future is projects like the desalination plant and projects like this one."

[Will]

From the Advertiser:

Water flows in desal tunnels

Political Reporter Sarah Martin From: The Advertiser June 29, 2011 12:00AM


TUNNELS at Adelaide's $1.8 billion desalination plant have been flooded with seawater for the first time.

It is a major breakthrough for the trouble-plagued project.

The Advertiser understands the plant's builder, Adelaide Aqua, has pumped seawater into its under-sea tunnels in the first step to having water desalinated at the plant by the end of July.

The Government is understood to be planning to announce the milestone at the Lonsdale site today before Premier Mike Rann is due to appear before a Budget estimates hearing this afternoon.

Adelaide Aqua and SA Water have refused to confirm the milestone, but a spokesman for the Premier confirmed a minister would be inspecting the site's progress today.

More work on the reverse osmosis plant is understood to be needed before water can be treated at the site, with key components still needing to be installed.

Problems have plagued the project since late last year, when Adelaide Aqua missed the plant's first water deadline of December, resulting in a delay until April this year.

The Government initially blamed the delay on an industrial accident at the site which resulted in a worker's death.

The desalination plant was later further delayed until July this year.

The project has also come under fire for its impact on base water prices, which have been hiked by more than 50 per cent to pay for the 100 gigalitre plant, and by about 285 per cent since it was first announced.

The Productivity Commission has also questioned the Government's decision to double the plant's capacity from 50 gigalitres to 100 gigalitres.

The plant's management has previously been criticised by SA Water, with internal documents showing the organisation believes that Adelaide Aqua "is largely responsible for the problems, through mismanagement and lack of planning".

SA Water and the Government have not ruled out legal action against Adelaide Aqua for the delays, and compensation may be sought once the project is completed.

When the Government announced the plant's capacity would be increased to 100 gigalitres in November 2008, it paid $79 million to the consortium to accelerate the first water milestone by 12 months.

[peas_and_corn]

My friend who is working on the project in a certain capacity has told me that Port Adelaide has a better chance of winning the premiership this year than the desal plant being operational by the end of July.