THE TUGUN desalination plant will be shut down from late April 2009 for scheduled repair works and parts replacements, two months after a delayed start.
According to Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, the planned shutdown will replace corroded couplings, and replace a number of water valves. Queensland’s Water Security says it will not take delivery of the plant until all the problems are fixed.
The Queensland government had planned for the plant to pump 125ML of water per day into the water grid by 15 January 2009, but this was delayed until 9 March. In early April, its operations were halted for a day for scheduled maintenance.
According to the government, desalinated water costs more by nature, so it will not push for a full capacity running of the desalination plant unless there is a significant drop in dam levels.
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