The Water Foundation provided funding to enhance water related research and development activities within Western Australia. Two rounds of funding were provided in 2004 and 2005 to address the complex issues surrounding water resource management, water recycling and sustainability in Western Australia.
Most of the research projects from the two funding rounds are now completed or well advanced. Information is provided in the table below.
Funded projects
The Water Foundation distributed $2,603,888 in research grants to eight projects in the first round of funding in 2004 to address the complex issues surrounding water resource management and sustainability in WA. These projects leveraged a total of $9.343 million of research funding for the state.
The second round of funding was conducted in 2005 and the Water Foundation distributed $3,130,046 in research grants to five projects, leveraging over $12 million of research funding for WA. These projects will research the impacts of wastewater purification and risk factors affecting Perth's coastal water sources from seawater intrusion, investigate public health impacts from recycled wastewater use, develop technology and management strategies for safe economical and sustainable use of aquifer storage and recovery techniques within Perth's deep aquifer systems, and provide understanding of vegetation dynamics and catchment water yields under changing climate and management.
Round 1 Water Foundation successful grants
| Grant recipient |
Project
Click on the links below to view project details and reports |
Grant |
Total project cost |
| CSIRO |
Towards productive use of Wheat-belt acid-saline water; pre-treatment for desalination |
$151,898 |
$317,131 |
| CSIRO |
Investigation techniques to better manage Western Australia's non potable water resources |
$750,000 |
$2,322,000 |
| CSIRO |
Determining requirements for managed aquifer recharge in Western Australia |
$750,000 |
$3,060,000 |
| CleanTeQ Pty Ltd |
Woodman Point waste water treatment plant effluent recycling using continuous counter-current ion exchange |
$225,000 |
$450,000 |
| Development Institute of Geraldton Grammar |
Sustainable water harvesting for ecological benefit |
$215,990 |
$462,490 |
| Environmental Technology Centre, Murdoch University |
Demonstration of decentralised wastewater recycling in urban villages |
$205,000 |
$2,153,000 |
| Royal Life Saving Society of Western Australia |
Best practice profile for public swimming pools - maximising reclamation and reuse |
$30,000 |
$60,000 |
| VegetablesWA |
A web-based expert system for efficient vegetable irrigation on sands |
$276,000 |
$519,000 |
Round 2 Water Foundation successful grants
| Grant recipient |
Project |
Report |
Grant |
Total project cost |
| CSIRO |
Aquifer Storage and Recovery of Potable Water in the Leederville Aquifer |
|
$481,000 |
$4,237,800 |
| CSIRO |
Vegetation dynamics and water yield under changing climate and management |
Forest change and water yield response: a statistical data integration analysis – consultants report and part of the Water Foundation research projects |
$899,046 |
$3,286,688 |
| CSIRO |
Wastewater Purification and Reuse: Mineral-based Absorbents for Contaminant Removal |
Characterisation of Mining and Industrial By-Products with Potential for Use as Environmental Amendments |
$450,000 |
$1,258,000 |
| Best Management Practices: Investigation of Mineral-Based By-Products for the Attenuation of Nutrients and DOC in Surface Waters from the Swan Coastal Plain |
| CSIRO |
Hydrological Controls on Managed Aquifer Recharge in Perth's Coastal Aquifer |
|
$600,000 |
$1,500,000 |
| University of Western Australia |
Assessing the Public Health Impacts of Recycled Water Use |
|
$700,000 |
$1,969,000 |