How much a brackish water desalination plant cost for Australia?
The scarcity of freshwater presents a challenge, and a project or system can provide a solution, offering a continuous supply of high-quality freshwater. Australia's groundwater salinity range is extremely wide, with approximately 70% being brackish.
Addressing Australia's brackish Water Desalination problem, XJY Company provides the best brackish water desalination systems for the country.
Why can't brackish water be use directly?
- Harm to the human body
Brackish water has a high concentration of salt and alkali, high hardness, high fluoride, high arsenic, high iron and manganese, low iodine, low selenium, and a bitter taste. Long-term consumption can lead to gastrointestinal dysfunction and decreased immunity.
- Harm to agricultural irrigation
Brackish water contains many impurities and salts. Direct irrigation can lead to soil salinization, decreased arable land quality, and reduced crop growth and yield.
- Harm to industry
brackish water can reduce product quality, damage production equipment, increase industrial production costs, slow down local industrial development, and affect local economic development.
Why is Australia so reliant on brackish water desalination plant?
（1）Australia lacks usable freshwater resources
(2) brackish water reserves are enormous
Australia has abundant groundwater resources, a significant portion of which is saline or brackish:
Over 30% of groundwater is brackish (TDS 1,000–10,000 mg/L)；
Most inland groundwater is saline or brackish；
Many remote areas lack rivers and lakes, relying solely on brackish wells
The scarcer the freshwater, the more reliant the area is on brackish water desalination for drinking, farming, and cattle raising.
(3)arid climate
Cities, mines, and farms all require large amounts of water, but most areas only have brackish water available.These areas are generally arid or semi-arid, and the only readily available water is brackish well water.
(4)brackish water desalination is cheaper
Coastal cities in Australia (Perth, Sydney) can easily desalinate seawater, but: Compared to seawater desalination, brackish water desalination is cheaper. 90% of the inland areas are too far from the sea, making seawater transportation extremely expensive, only underground brackish water is usable.
| Category | BWRO (Brackish Water RO) | SWRO (Seawater RO) |
| TDS Level | 1,000–10,000 mg/L | ~35,000 mg/L |
| Operating Pressure | 8–18 bar | 55–70 bar |
| Cost | Lower | Higher |
| Spplication Areas | Inland regions, farms, mining sites | Coastal cities |
Because inland Australia has no access to seawater and relies heavily on brackish groundwater, BWro systems are the only practical choice for most inland regions in Australia.
Is brackish water desalination plant suitable for Australia?
Many remote areas in Australia have very small populations (tens to hundreds of people) and are hundreds of kilometers from cities, making it impossible to build large-scale municipal water treatment plants.
Portable or small-to-medium-sized brackish water desalination plants are perfect for this purpose: they consume little energy, are easy to maintain, can treat local brackish well water, and can provide a stable, long-term water supply. Therefore, brackish water desalination plants are a lifeline for remote areas of Australia.
How does brackish water desalination plant treat water?
This is a reverse osmosis system specifically designed for brackish water. In some areas, the mineral content is high, resulting in bitter and salty water with a TDS exceeding 5000, a problem that conventional water purification equipment cannot solve.
Brackish water → raw water pump → sand filter → carbon filter→ security system → high pressure pump → RO system → UV sterilizer → water supply point
Reverse osmosis can remove over 90% of dissolved salts and over 99% of colloidal microorganisms and organic matter from water.
Compared to other water treatment methods, it offers advantages such as no phase change, operation at room temperature, simple equipment, high efficiency, small footprint, easy operation, low energy consumption, wide applicability, high degree of automation, and high-quality effluent.
Why brackish water desalination plant expensive than ordinary RO plant?
Although brackish water desalination equipment is also RO, it treats brackish water with a high TDS (1,500–10,000 mg/L), which is much higher than the TDS of ordinary tap water/surface water. Therefore, the requirements for the entire system are higher, and the cost is naturally higher.
The main reasons are as follows:
- Use a higher pressure pump
Brackish water has a higher salt content and requires a higher reverse osmosis pressure. Standard RO (tap water): operating pressure 6–12 bar, brackish water RO: operating pressure 16–25 bar. The high-pressure pump is one of the most expensive components in the entire system. Brackish water requires pumps with higher pressure, higher corrosion resistance, and higher energy efficiency, increasing costs by 30–100%.
- BWRO-specific membranes
Ordinary reverse osmosis uses low-pressure membranes/ultra-low-pressure membranes (ULP/LP), while brackish water must use BW series membranes with high desalination rates, high pressure resistance, and stronger anti-fouling capabilities. The price of membranes used in these membranes is generally 30-80% higher than that used in household or general industrial applications.
- Preprocessing requirements are higher
Brackish water contains many impurities, making pretreatment requirements more complex.
Standard RO pretreatment is simple: sand filtration, activated carbon, softening, and security filters.
For brackish water pretreatment, add: softening or scale inhibitors, chemical dosing systems, and chemicals specifically designed to prevent sulfate, silica scale, and iron/manganese buildup.
How to choose from XJY company's BWRO series?
XJY's brackish water desalination plant has a minimum production capacity of 250 L/H and a maximum capacity of 30 T/H. Customized services (membrane, pump, materials) are available.
For family use, a capacity of 250L/H or 500L/H would be more suitable.
For ranch irrigation/industry, a capacity of 1000L/H or higher is more suitable.
Wind, solar energy, and diesel fuel can all be used as power sources for reverse osmosis to purify brackish water, solving the problems of unstable power supply and shortage of domestic water.
Contact us
Name: Cliff Mok
Mobile phone: +86 17817887719