In the Shire of Bulloo, South West Queensland, it gets hot – really hot. This community is built on dirt and dust, with residents routinely battling drought – if they’re not fighting off intense season weather.
It is a region that relies on bore water for survival, and pumps crack through the red dirt to tap into the Great Artesian Basin. It is one of the most significant underground freshwater resources on the planet, but there is one huge problem – the Queensland heat is baking it.
Residents turning on their taps in the town of Thargomindah were met with water that was 72°C. To put that into perspective, the boiling point is 100°C, and at 60°C, it’s enough to produce third-degree burns on contact with the skin.
So before anyone in the community could drink or bathe, they would need to cool this down to a more acceptable temperature. The local council tried cooling ponds and towers, but they barely made a difference and there were significant power drains.
Couple the heat with the intermittent nature of the mains electricity supply in the Bulloo Shire region, and the locals have faced a significant quandary.
How solar solved the scorching water dilemma
Council installed a solar-powered cooling system to combat this problem, and now the water is delivered to locals at a more acceptable 35°C. The system was constructed by NRG Services and was partially funded by a Works for Queensland grant.
How does it work?
The hot water is channelled through the existing cooling ponds before it runs through the heat exchange unit. Here it is monitored and only released to the town when it reaches 35°C. When it enters the new system and is already 35°C, the secondary system can be bypassed for greater efficiency. A solar and battery system powers the entire operation.
“The entire system will be powered by solar throughout the day, and by solar charged batteries during any night time operations. On the rare occasion that we don’t have enough sunlight, this will ensure that running costs are kept to a minimum and it will not have any impact on the current power supply to the area,” the local Bulloo Buzz released by the council reported.
The storage tank has also been equipped with UV lighting, which keeps the tanks free of biological growth like mould and potentially harmful bacteria. An electronic display board has also been installed on the town’s main walking track, where locals can view the status of the cooling system in real-time.
Bulloo Shire Council has been named the winner in the Sustainability Category of the 2021 Queensland Local Government Awards for Excellence for their efforts.
Other nominations for the awards in the sustainability category included:
- Logan City Council for the Cedar Grove Environmental Centre
- Rockhampton Regional Council for their Sustainable Futures Rockhampton program
- Western Downs Regional Council for their COVID-19 Recovery Package
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