Victorian Desal Plant Ecological Reserve

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Victorian Desal Plant Ecological Reserve: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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Victorian Desal Plant Ecological Reserve, Wonthaggi, VIC

Victorian Desal Plant Ecological Reserve

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Description

The Victorian Desalination Plant Ecological Reserve in Wonthaggi, Australia, is a unique destination that offers visitors the opportunity to explore a beautiful natural area that has been restored after the construction of a desalination plant.

The reserve covers an area of 225 hectares and is home to a variety of native flora and fauna. Visitors can explore the reserve on foot or by bike, and there are several walking and cycling trails to choose from.

One of the best things to do at the Victorian Desalination Plant Ecological Reserve is to take a guided tour. The tours are led by knowledgeable guides who can provide insight into the history of the area, as well as information about the plants and animals that call the reserve home. Visitors can also explore the reserve on their own by following one of the many walking or cycling trails. The trails range in difficulty, so there is something for everyone. Along the way, visitors can enjoy stunning views of the coastline and the surrounding countryside.

The best time to visit the Victorian Desalination Plant Ecological Reserve is during the spring and summer months (September to February). During this time, the weather is warm and sunny, and the reserve is at its most beautiful. Visitors can enjoy the wildflowers in bloom and the many bird species that are active during this time of year.

The Victorian Desalination Plant Ecological Reserve is located in Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia, approximately 130 kilometers southeast of Melbourne. Visitors can drive to the reserve or take public transportation. There are several bus services that run from Melbourne to Wonthaggi, and from there, visitors can take a taxi or hire a car to get to the reserve.

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Wonthaggi, VIC 3992

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See more about, the victorian desalination plant & ecological reserve.

The Victorian Desalination Plant is critical infrastructure for climate adaption and one of the largest such investments in Australia’s history. The 225 ha ecological reserve camouflages the plant through a 26,000 m2 green roof and a dune system evolved from spoil; it transforms degraded land into mosaics of coastal and swampy woodlands, wetlands and dune ecologies; and it reconnects remnants and provides a rich visitor experience.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

Landscape architects led the development of the comprehensive site plan that embraced and negotiated significant infrastructure components and constraints to ensure that an ecologically resilient landscape, public accessibility, and sustainability will be the prime legacies of the project.

Central to the design and collaboration process was the creation of a 3D master model of the entire site to assist in molding spaces and enhancing the site’s experiential qualities. This technology allowed the design team to test ideas and manipulate structures, earthforms and plantings to ensure project objectives were met. The modeling process became a key tool in collaborating across disciplines and incorporating highly technical architectural and engineering models to create a fully integrated outcome.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

By leading and delivering such an ambitious site plan and detailed design, the landscape architects demonstrated the new roles and directions of which the profession is capable.

Local seed collection and on-site propagation established millions of plants. The green roof’s 25 species required significant research to establish a local palette suitable for predicted future conditions. It has purpose-designed lightweight high water retention planting media and integrated growth support systems. The reserve uses only on-site water capture.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

The project has returned local fauna, including endangered species and internationally significant migratory birds. A mandated 18-year review ensures ecological values are maintained into the future.

The site is a place of significance to the local first people and traditional owners, the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nation. The values associated with the site were carefully identified and protected through the site planning process and the final constructed outcome.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

The project has achieved the linking of existing and new shared recreational trails for bicycles, walking and horse riding. It also includes public toilets, picnic shelters, a bird hide, and viewing platforms, as well as interpretive and wayfinding signage to immerse visitors into not only the processes of the desalination plant, but also the ecological and cultural values of the reserve.

In addition, the project includes one of the biggest extensive green roofs in the southern hemisphere, a substantial advance in green infrastructure delivered in the absence of a relevant Australian design standard, which forms a crucial element in the overall ecological diversity and habitat of the site.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

At this point of the project’s evolution, a long-term landscape management plan has been initiated that will involve monitoring the revegetation process to ensure enhancement of the reserve’s ecological values into the future.

Finally, the project performance requirements involve an independent review at 18 years after completion. This admirable initiative means that the project proponents will be compelled to continue inputs to ensure ecological values are maintained.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

APA MLA Harvard Vancouver Chicago IEEE urbanNext (March 5, 2024) The Victorian Desalination Plant & Ecological Reserve . Retrieved from https://urbannext.net/victorian-desalination-plant-ecological-reserve/ . “ The Victorian Desalination Plant & Ecological Reserve. ” urbanNext – March 5, 2024, https://urbannext.net/victorian-desalination-plant-ecological-reserve/ urbanNext December 17, 2016 The Victorian Desalination Plant & Ecological Reserve. , viewed March 5, 2024, https://urbannext.net/victorian-desalination-plant-ecological-reserve/ > urbanNext – The Victorian Desalination Plant & Ecological Reserve. [Internet]. [Accessed March 5, 2024]. Available from: https://urbannext.net/victorian-desalination-plant-ecological-reserve/ “ The Victorian Desalination Plant & Ecological Reserve. ” urbanNext – Accessed March 5, 2024. https://urbannext.net/victorian-desalination-plant-ecological-reserve/ “ The Victorian Desalination Plant & Ecological Reserve. ” urbanNext [Online]. Available: https://urbannext.net/victorian-desalination-plant-ecological-reserve/ . [Accessed: March 5, 2024]

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The Victorian Desalination Plant: 7 Things You Need To Know

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, Australia, is known for its vibrant culture, bustling streets, and natural beauty. However, like many other cities around the world, Melbourne faces challenges related to water security due to its rapidly growing population and changing climate. In response to these challenges, the Victorian Desalination Plant was built as a sustainable solution to ensure a reliable supply of water for the city’s residents and industries. To shed a bit more light on this well-known desalination facility, I came up with some key facts to summarize the project.

The Victorian Desalination Plant aka Wonthaggi Desalination Plant, located just outside of Melbourne is the largest desalination plant in Australia. Utilizing reverse osmosis technology, the plant has the ability to produce 410 cubic metres of drinking water daily, meeting 33% of Victoria’s water demand.

It produces 410 cubic metres of water per day

The Victorian Desalination Plant has a production capacity of 410 cubic metres of water per day which equates to 150 billion litres (150 GL) of water per year, this gives it the title of Australia’s largest desalination plant! The plant has the ability to meet around 33% of Melbourne’s water needs when operating at full capacity.

If you are interested in some other destination plants around Australia, I encourage you to read the article Desalination Plants in Australia: The 10 Largest , if you perhaps have a broader scope in mind. why not check out my article on the ten largest desalination plants in the world Desalination Plants Around The World: The Ten Largest .

It covers an area of approximately 150 hectares

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

Located in the town of Wonthaggi, just outside of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia’s southeast, the plant covers an area of about 150 hectares and consists of a seawater intake system, pre-treatment facilities, reverse osmosis membranes, and post-treatment facilities.

The Victorian Desalination Plant certainly has a large footprint, however, if you are interested in the largest desalination plant on the planet, read my article Jebel Ali, The World’s Largest Desalination Plant for a succinct guide on the topic.

The plant utilizes reverse osmosis technology

The Victorian Desalination Plant uses reverse osmosis technology, which is a process that removes salt and other impurities from seawater by forcing it through a semi-permeable membrane. The plant uses advanced energy recovery systems to reduce its energy consumption and minimize its carbon footprint. The energy recovery systems use the pressure generated by the reverse osmosis process to drive turbines and generate electricity.

It is owned by the state government and operated by Aquasuare

The Victorian Desalination Plant is owned by the Victorian Government and is operated by AquaSure, a consortium of companies that includes SUEZ, Thiess, and Macquarie Capital. AquaSure is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the plant, as well as the delivery of high-quality drinking water to Melbourne Water.

Built in response to drought, it has never been at full capacity

The plant was built as a response to the Millennium Drought, which lasted from 1997 to 2010 and was one of the worst droughts in Australia’s history. Funnily enough, the desalination plant was immediately put on standby after its initial commissioning  due to Melbourne’s main water sources being at 81% capacity at the time of commissioning and not requiring any additional water. Due to the relatively unpredictable nature of Melbourne’s rainfall, the desalination plant forms a part of Melbourne’s water management plan, particularly in times of prolonged drought, similar to what occurred when construction began on the facility in 2007.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

It has surprising sustainability credentials

One of the key sustainability features of the Victorian Desalination Plant is that it relies on renewable energy. The plant is powered by wind and solar energy, which helps to reduce its carbon footprint and make it more environmentally friendly. In fact, the plant is the largest user of renewable energy in Victoria, generating up to 100% of its power from renewable sources.

Another important sustainability feature of the Victorian Desalination Plant is its water efficiency. The plant is designed to use the latest water-saving technologies and techniques, which helps to reduce its water consumption and make it more sustainable. For example, the plant recycles around 90% of its water, which means that it uses far less water than traditional desalination plants.

In addition to these features, the Victorian Desalination Plant is also designed to have a minimal impact on the local environment. The plant has been constructed using environmentally sustainable materials, and it is designed to be energy-efficient and low-emission. Furthermore, the plant is located near the coast, which means that it can use seawater for desalination, rather than relying on freshwater sources.

It has received many awards and accolades

The Victorian Desalination Plant is an innovative infrastructure project that has received recognition and awards for its contribution to sustainability and engineering excellence. Here are some of the awards that the plant has won:

  • Engineering Excellence Awards: The Victorian Desalination Plant was awarded the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards in 2013. The award recognized the project’s engineering excellence in delivering a sustainable water supply solution for Melbourne.
  • Sustainability Awards: The plant was also recognized at the 2013 Banksia Sustainability Awards, where it won the Built Environment and Infrastructure category. The award recognized the project’s commitment to sustainability and the environment, including its use of renewable energy and its minimal impact on the local ecosystem.
  • Green Globe Awards: The Victorian Desalination Plant won the Energy Efficiency Award at the 2013 Green Globe Awards. The award recognized the plant’s commitment to using renewable energy and its energy-efficient design, which has helped to reduce its carbon footprint.
  • National Infrastructure Awards: The plant was also a finalist in the 2013 National Infrastructure Awards, which recognized the best infrastructure projects in Australia. The plant was recognized for its engineering excellence and its contribution to ensuring Melbourne has a reliable source of water.
  • Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame: In 2014, the Victorian Desalination Plant was inducted into the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame. The award recognized the plant’s contribution to manufacturing excellence in Victoria, including its use of innovative technologies and its commitment to sustainability.

John Wilson

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Featured projects, featured project: victorian desalination plant, australia.

Victorian Desalination Plant Wonthaggi, Australia 290,626 sf Extensive Greenroof ( Video )

Greenroofs.com featured project june 23, 2022.

The many powerful aspects of Nature take center stage in this Featured Project Series showcase: the outstanding Victorian Desalination Plant in Wonthaggi, Australia. From the power needed to desalinate water (the plant’s power requirements are 100% offset by renewable energy) to the recreation of the natural dune ecosystem present before development using all native plants indigenous to the area, the Victorian Desalination Plant is green infrastructure at its finest.

The Victorian Desalination Plant. Image: Sika Cambodia

Needing a resilient fresh water supply to the Melbourne area when water storage levels were critically low, the forward-thinking Victorian Government greatly researched appropriate desalination sites, methodologies, and environmental and cultural considerations before site construction commencement.

The controversial plan was heavily debated and finally completed in 2012, yet the plant didn’t produce its first water order until 2016. Interestingly, the plant is not currently producing water as it completed the 2021-22 water order earlier this month. It is expected, however, to start delivering the 2022-23 water order of 15 gigalitres in September/October 2022.

Image: Fytogreen Australia

The Victorian Desalination Plant plays a critical role in Melbourne’s water future, and does so responsibly and sustainably, serving as an excellent example for the rest of the world to emulate. Kudos to all!

The Victorian Desalination Plant uses reverse osmosis technology to separate salt from seawater to create high quality drinking water. Image: Victoria State Government

Excerpt from the Greenroofs.com Project Profile :

A private/public partnership between Victorian Government and Aquasure, the Victorian Desalination Plant in Wonthaggi represents the largest public sector investment in water infrastructure in Australia’s history. Using reverse osmosis technology to separate salt from seawater to create high quality drinking water, the project underpins water security for Melbourne and surrounding regions.

The design brief was to replicate what would have been growing there prior to human habitation on this ecologically sensitive coastal area. Since the dunes were missing, ARM Architecture surrounded the plant with new ones to help conceal it visually and acoustically.

Requiring a design which made the structure barely visible from all public viewing points, the plant is covered with a 27,000 square meter living tapestry of indigenous plants making it the largest green roof in the southern hemisphere. And the 225-hectare site will become a re-vegetated native parkland and ecological preserve.

The landscape architecture firm of ASPECT Studios chose native species tolerant of high heat, salt drift, drought, and wind. Around 110,000 tube stocks of indigenous ground covers, sedges, lilies, succulents, and non-wood shrubs were used. They say the project uses only on-site water capture and has returned local fauna, including endangered species and internationally significant migratory birds.

Image: Aquasure

Amenities within the ecological reserve include 8km of pedestrian, cyclist and equestrian trails; wayfinding and interpretation including indigenous history of the Bunurong/Boon wurrung people of the Kulin nation, their uses of the land and the effects of European settlement; boardwalks for discovering bird hides; viewing decks; and picnic shelters.

The site and scale of the green roof presented a number of challenges, and the slopes vary considerably from 1 – 22%. Designer and installer Fytogreen Australia maintained several test beds at various slopes during the research phase. The waterproofing membrane had to allow for potential movement from kilometers of joints, and the Sika Sarnafil system was chosen.

Image: Victorian Government

A project of formidable scale, the Victorian Desalination Plant is part water treatment infrastructure and part environmental restoration.

Its sensitive combination of living architecture and green infrastructure transforms degraded land into mosaics of coastal and swampy woodlands, wetlands, and dune ecologies.

Year: 2012 Owner: Government of Victoria and Aquasure Location: Wonthaggi, Australia Building Program: Industrial Greenroof Type: Extensive System: Single Source Provider Size: 290,626 sq.ft. Slope: 1 – 22% Test/Research: Yes Access: Inaccessible Privacy: Private

ARCHITECT: ARM/ PECKVONHARTEL

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: ASPECT STUDIOS

DESIGN, INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE: FYTOGREEN AUSTRALIA

CIVIL ENGINEER: BECA

WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE: SIKA SARNAFIL

PLANT OPERATOR: AQUASURE

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See the Victorian Desalination Plant Project Profile   to view ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in the  Greenroofs.com Projects Database .

Did we miss your contribution? Please let us know to add you to the Project Profil e .

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The Victorian Desalination Project provides a drought-proof water supply to Melbourne and Geelong.

As a rainfall-independent source of water it complements our existing catchments. With key components of the plant having a design life of 100 years it can produce high quality water whenever required, making it a resource that will be valued in times of future drought.

Seawater Lift Pump Station

Seawater Lift Pump Station

Transfers seawater to the pump station via intake structures located on the seabed.

Screen & Feed Pump Station

Screen & Feed Pump Station

Houses screen filters that remove large particles from seawater.

Pretreatment DMPF

DMPF & Backwash Treatment

Houses Dual Media Pressure Filters (DMPF) to remove fine particles from seawater.

Collects backwash from the DMPFs and pumps it through to the Backwash Treatment Building.

Treats and stores backwash from the DMPF process before it is pumped to the Solids Treatment Building.

Reverse Osmosis Building

Reverse Osmosis Building

Water passes through two stages of reverse osmosis where minerals and salts are removed.

Chemical Buildings

Chemical Buildings

House chemicals like fluoride and carbon dioxide used to potabilise the desalinated water.

Solids Treatment Building

Solids Treatment Building

Settlement and centrifuge process used to dewater the backwash waste prior to transfer offsite.

Potabilisation System

Potabilisation System

Point for mixing of chemicals to produce safe drinking water.

Transfer Pump Station and Surge Vessels

Transfer Pump Station and Surge Vessels

Pumps potable water into the transfer pipeline.

Production Capacity

440 Megalitres Per Day

Total Site 263 hectares

Coastal Park 225 hectares

Plant 38 hectares (29 buildings)

Concrete Poured

76,978 cubic metres

Structural Steel

6,000 tonnes

Electrical Cabling

1,200 kilometres

1.3 million cubic metres

26,000 square metres

100,000 indigenous plants

Water Pipeline

84 km (1.93m diameter)

The Desalination Plant

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Victorian Desalination Project

The Victorian Desalination Project supplies up to 150 billion litres of water a year to the greater Melbourne and Geelong area.

Project name

$5 720 million (net present cost as at September 2009)

Service delivery commenced

Department or agency

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

Private sector partner

Description.

The Victorian Desalination Project (Project), located in the Wonthaggi region, achieved final commissioning completion on 17 December 2012 and is fully operational.

The plant is capable of supplying up to 150 billion litres of water a year to Melbourne, Geelong and via other connections, South Gippsland and Western Port towns. The Project provides for desalinated water to be delivered from the private sector to the State Government owned water authorities, who will in turn deliver this water to households. The Project is being delivered as a public private partnership Project by the AquaSure consortium.

The scope of the Project includes the construction and operation of the desalination plant, the 84 kilometre transfer pipeline to connect to Melbourne’s existing water supplies, delivery of power supply for the project, operations and maintenance, and the purchase of renewable energy credits.

Contact information

Andrew Ogilvie Director, Victorian Desalination Project Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Email:  [email protected]

Related information

Victorian Desalination - Project summary  (PDF 452.67 KB)

Aquasure website

DELWP - Victorian Desalination Project

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Why we need to use water desalination plants early

Turning on the Wonthaggi water desalination plant now rather than later will save money in the long run and head off an emergency later

By Nathan Taylor, Professor Andrew Western, and Professor John Langford, University of Melbourne

The long dry has left Melbourne’s water supplies at their lowest levels since 2011, at less than 55 per cent capacity. In response the Victorian government has made the largest-ever water order from the desalination plant at Wonthaggi .

This is a good decision.

Running the Wonthaggi desalination plant is a high cost option in the short term, but it will end up saving Victorians a lot of money. Despite the relatively high price tag of desalination, it will actually reduce the cost of maintaining reliable water supplies for Melbourne.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

We’ve modelled Melbourne’s water supply system using a range of scenarios that examined the risks posed by drought. Under recent storage conditions, we found that using the desalination plant more often will save about $250 million compared with only using the plant in emergencies.

The money is saved because, by operating the desalination plant when storages are at higher levels, rather than waiting until they are dangerously low, you can create a large enough buffer of stored water to head off emergencies. Without a sufficient buffer, we run a high risk of having to spend a lot of money in building emergency expansions in desalination capacity to stop Melbourne running out of water.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

Fighting the 'white cancer' threatening global food security

Just last year, Cape Town in South faced a water emergency where it was forced to ration water. If it wasn’t for timely winter rains that stopped the reservoirs going dry, Cape Town’s entire water supply system would have faced being turned off. In contrast, here in Victoria, when faced with the real possibility of storages falling empty because of the Millennial drought (2001-2009), the Wonthaggi desalination plant was built and other emergency water saving measures and augmentations were undertaken.

With only about a years supply of water in storage, these were critical emergency augmentations but they cost a lot of money and as a result the cost of water rose dramatically. Before the investments, the cost of water and sewerage services in Melbourne had been pretty consistent for most of the time that the ABS has tracked it. However, between December 2007 and December 2013 the cost of water and sewage skyrocketed by 129 per cent compared with just a 17 per cent rise in Melbourne’s consumer price index, which is a general measure of the cost of goods and services.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

But our simulations found that the likelihood of having to build more expansions to the water supply system to avoid a Cape Town-like emergency is halved when the desalination plant is turned on at times of higher storage levels, rather waiting for an emergency. So, the order for 125 gigalitres from the desalination plant is a sensible decision that will save money in the long run. The government has said the order will increase the annual cost of water to households by $10.

Of course money could be saved in the short term by not operating the plant, but the longer term risk is that more money will have to be spent later to expand the plant to cope with an emergency situation that could have been avoided.

desalination plant wonthaggi tours

Will water ever be worth more than oil?

In Melbourne, water reliability is now underpinned by a range of actions beyond just the high cost of desalination. These include: trading water in the market, harvesting stormwater, and implementing demand management actions, all of which need to be focused on. But the key benefit of using the desalination plant is that it can ensure we have that buffer in water supplies.

Our research showed that the total expected cost of meeting projected demand in Victoria, based on rainfall inflows into the dams similar to those over the last twenty years, ranges from about $250 million to almost $1.85 billion, in net present value terms, over a 20 year timeframe. That wide range is because the final cost is dependent on how much water is in storage at any one time. The more water in storage, the cheaper it is to reliably meet demand.

When water storages are high, the value of that stored water stems from it helping to defer the operation of the desalination plant. As storages fall, the value of turning on the desalination plant early is that we can avoid an emergency and the associated costs of having to augment the water supply system. It also means we can reduce the cost to society and the economy from having to impose water restrictions.

If we don’t want Melbourne to suffer the crippling water shortages that Cape Town has recently experienced, we need to invest in maintaining high levels of water in storage.

Banner image: The Yan Yean Reservoir in Victoria, pictured in 2009. Mark Dadswell/Getty Images

UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering

UCLA Institute for Carbon Management and Equatic to Build the World’s Largest Ocean-Based Carbon Removal Plant in Singapore

The $20 million system will be capable of removing 3,650 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year while producing 105 metric tons of carbon-negative hydrogen                     

Aquatic

Charles Grace Rendering of an ocean-based carbon dioxide-removal demonstration plant in Singapore

Feb 27, 2024

Following the successful launch and operation of two pilots in Los Angeles and Singapore last spring, UCLA and its startup Equatic are scaling up for the next phase: a $20 million full-scale demonstration plant (“Equatic-1”) supported by Singapore’s national water agency PUB; the National Research Foundation (NRF), Singapore; and UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) .

Over the next 18 months, a multi-disciplinary team comprising researchers and technology-scaling experts from ICM and Equatic will set out to build the world’s largest ocean-based carbon dioxide-removal plant at PUB’s research and development facility in Tuas, located in western Singapore. 

Equatic’s existing plant in Singapore, piloted at 0.1 metric ton (220 pounds) of carbon dioxide removal per day, has proven successful. Equatic-1 will be constructed over two phases, with the first phase beginning in March and designed to remove 1 metric ton (approximately 2,205 pounds) of carbon dioxide per day by late 2024. Nine additional modules will be installed in early 2025 to complete Phase 2. With all 10 modules, Equatic-1 will be able to remove 10 metric tons of CO 2 per day from seawater and the atmosphere — 100 times more than the amount removed by the pilot. The pioneering technology could allow for the greenhouse gas to be removed and durably stored while simultaneously producing nearly 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of carbon-negative hydrogen daily. Once this facility has successfully fulfilled its technical demonstration objectives, Equatic will scale and commercialize the technology globally.

“We are very grateful for the catalytic support of PUB and NRF, which have helped us create a world-class partnership in our joint efforts to mitigate climate change,” said Equatic co-founder and ICM director Gaurav Sant , who is the Pritzker Professor of Sustainability in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. “Scaling carbon removal solutions requires technology, bold and committed partners, and a focus on timely and measurable success. We have been very fortunate to create this shared vision with our partners in Singapore to scale Equatic’s solutions to the commercial scale and around the world.” Sant also holds faculty appointments in the departments of civil and environmental engineering and materials science and engineering, as well as the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.      

The Equatic process activates and expands the ocean’s natural ability to store carbon dioxide by removing dissolved CO 2 while enhancing the sea’s capacity to absorb more of the greenhouse gas. Utilizing electrolysis, an electrical current is passed through seawater brought in from the adjacent desalination plants operated by PUB. The process induces a series of chemical reactions that break water into its hydrogen and oxygen constituents while securely storing both dissolved and atmospheric carbon dioxide in the form of solid calcium and magnesium-based materials for at least 10,000 years. 

“Scaling carbon dioxide removal solutions requires technology, bold and committed partners, and a focus on timely and measurable success. We have been very fortunate to create this shared vision with our partners in Singapore to pilot and scale Equatic’s solutions,” Gaurav Sant said.

According to the World Bank, the average global annual carbon emissions per capita in 2020 are about 4.3 metric tons . At full scale, Equatic-1 can remove as much carbon dioxide as what nearly 850 people emit annually. Once the plant meets its projected carbon-removal goal, Equatic plans to launch a commercial plant designed to capture nearly 110,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year — equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of more than 25,000 individuals.

PUB has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 with a three-pronged approach to replace, reduce and remove   carbon emissions. Besides replacing fossil fuel sources with renewable solar energy and investing in research and development to reduce energy required in water-treatment processes, capturing and removing carbon released into the atmosphere is a key thrust of PUB’s decarbonization strategy. This collaboration with UCLA and Equatic is part of Singapore’s broader efforts to source novel technologies, such as carbon capture, utilization, storage, which could contribute to mitigating the impacts of climate change.  

“We are pleased to further our collaboration with UCLA and Equatic to develop a solution that has potential synergies with PUB’s desalination plant,” said PUB chief engineering and technology officer Chee Meng Pang. “At PUB, we firmly believe that technological advancements, delivered in partnership with academia and the private sector, hold the key to addressing the complex challenges posted by climate change.” 

Equatic-1 is being built as a modular system, allowing the performance of individual units to be staged and stacked in preparation for systematic and rapid expansion. This approach reduces risks traditionally associated with scaling technology innovation. The system will also employ selective anodes, newly developed with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), to produce oxygen while eliminating the unwanted byproduct of chlorine during seawater electrolysis. This opens a new pathway to carbon dioxide removal at the gigaton scale with the co-production of hydrogen — a clean fuel vital to decarbonizing transportation and industrial applications.

“The pilot plant commissioned in 2023 provided critical performance data to substantiate our carbon dioxide-removal efficiencies, hydrogen-production rates and energy requirements for the process,” said Equatic co-founder Dante Simonetti , an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UCLA Samueli and ICM’s associate director for technology translation. “The findings helped define the pathway for the design and engineering of Equatic-1 based on scaling performance confirmed by the pilot system.” 

In addition to Sant and Simonetti, the project also involves Equatic co-founder and UCLA Samueli civil and environmental engineering professor David Jassby , who serves as ICM’s associate director for knowledge discovery.

The carbon credits from Equatic-1 are allocated to the project’s partners, and Equatic has entered into agreements with companies including Boeing for the purchase of carbon credits from future commercial plants. 

Equatic’s first pilot operations were unveiled at the Port of Los Angeles and Singapore in April 2023, less than two years after creating bench-scale prototypes at UCLA in 2021. The technology has been named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023 and listed among Popular Science’s 50 greatest innovations of 2023 . It has also won the 2021 Liveability Challenge , a global competition backed by Singapore-based nonprofit Temasek Foundation with 450 applicants from more than 60 countries. 

In addition to funding by PUB, the Equatic process (formerly known as Project SeaChange) has been supported by, among others, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Nicholas Endowment, the Temasek Foundation and Boeing, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E and its Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.      

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  1. Wonthaggi Desalination Plant

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  4. Wonthaggi Desalination Plant, Victoria

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  5. Wonthaggi desalination plant costs $649 million a year to operate

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COMMENTS

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  21. Victorian Desalination Project

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  24. UCLA Institute for Carbon Management and Equatic to Build the World's

    Equatic's existing plant in Singapore, piloted at 0.1 metric ton (220 pounds) of carbon dioxide removal per day, has proven successful. Equatic-1 will be constructed over two phases, with the first phase beginning in March and designed to remove 1 metric ton (approximately 2,205 pounds) of carbon dioxide per day by late 2024.