Tony Harrison gathers almost 400 signatures urging Water Corp to recycle brine from Albany desalination plant

Environmental campaigner Tony Harrison has gathered about 400 signatures for his petition asking Water Corporation to recycle the brine produced by its proposed new desalination plant. Water Corporation has indicated it will decide on a location for the Albany plant by the end of the year, with Nanarup and Sandpatch earmarked as potential spots. As well as the petition, Mr Harrison has written to Premier Roger Cook and to the ministers for water, tourism, environment and transport urging them to re-examine the sites under consideration and to take his recycling proposal seriously. A separate petition, organised by Melanie Michael under the banner Friends of Nanarup — Protect Our Coastline, has 371 signatures on change.org. The initial proposal to site the plant in King George Sound was dismissed after all three major political parties canned the idea following local opposition. Mr Harrison believes the easterly winds will push brine back to shore at Nanarup while, if the plant were built at Sandpatch, he says the currents would take it to Mutton Bird Beach. His solution is either to build behind the CSBP distribution centre on Hanrahan Road or for Water Corporation to start treating and recycling wastewater. A Water Corporation spokesperson said brine from the facility would be returned to the ocean via a pipeline with a diffuser at the end to help mix and dilute the sea water to “natural salinity levels” within 50m. “Once a site for the proposed Albany plant is confirmed, Water Corporation will commission independent scientific modelling using wave, tide, and current data collected from the location,” they said. Water Corporation is hosting two information sessions at Lower Kalgan Hall on November 6 and December 10.