Australia’s first dedicated desalination research centre was opened in Rockingham, Western Australia, on 4 September.
The National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia (NCEDA) will be supported by AU$3 million over three years from the state government.
“It is great timing—the opening of this AU$5m facility has coincided with Perth hosting the International Desalination Association’s Biennial World Congress and on Friday [2 September] I had the honour of opening Western Australia’s second seawater desalination plant at Binningup in the South-West,” said Bill Marmion, the state’s water minister.
According to John Day, the Western Australian science minister, the funds were dedicated to the design, construction, commission and operation of the pilot-scale testing and research facility at the Rockingham Desalination Research Facility, and NCEDAs visitor facilities at Murdoch University’s Rockingham Campus.
“Money will also go toward top-up scholarships in the area of desalination to students at NCEDAs WA participating organisations, which include the University of Western Australia and Murdoch, Curtin and Edith Cowan universities,” said Day.
NCEDA manages research funding worth AU$20m over five years from the federal government’s National Urban Water and Desalination Plan.