Portable Desal Unit Goes Bush
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Published on 21 February 2019
Blacktown City Council and local charity Kids West are again lending a hand to Blacktown’s Sister City in the drought-affected northwest of New South Wales.
Last year Council funded a portable tanker to assist in the delivery of drinking water to isolated villages in the Liverpool Plains Shire.
Kids West joined with Council in being a major partner in the Sister Cities Drought Tour to Quirindi and the Mayoress Gift Appeal that saw hundreds of Christmas gifts distributed to kids in the Liverpool Plains area.
This week, Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali and Kids West Executive Director, Trevor Oldfield inspected a portable desalination unit that can deliver clean water for the homes, farms and businesses around Quirindi.
“Council has established very strong ties with Liverpool Plains Shire Council through the Sister Cities program,” Mayor Bali said.
Council has partnered with Kids West, a benefactor and Saltfree Desalination Australia to arrange the delivery of the portable desalination unit to Quirindi.
The portable desalination unit will be set-up on vacant land adjacent to Quirindi airport and will be able extract unusable bore water and then deliver life-sustaining clean, drinkable water that will be stored on site and available free to homes, farms and businesses in the Liverpool Plains area.
Kids West Executive Director Trevor Oldfield said; “This project shows that the Sister Cities program can bring real results. It’s so satisfying bringing this all together to help the people of Blacktown’s Sister City in the bush.”
Saltfree owner operator, Brian Schultz, says the desalination unit can deliver up to 150,000 litres of clean water a day from previously unusable salty bore water.
“Our desal units can deliver potable water suitable for watering stock, use in industrial car washes, vineyards, poultry farms, sporting ovals and even drinking water”, he said.
Pic shows: (from left) Saltfree operator Brian Schultz, Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali and Kid West’s Trevor Oldfield farewell the portable desal unit on its trip to Quirindi.