The Virginia Pipeline: Australia's largest water recycling project

The need to conserve, reuse and recycle water is becoming increasingly important for both environmental and economic reasons. The Virginia Pipeline is Australia's largest water recycling project. More than half the output from (the capital of South Australia) Adelaide's largest wastewater treatment plant is further treated to achieve a product water quality fit for irrigation of vegetable crops with minimal public health restrictions. The project partners have a vision to achieve total reuse. To achieve this vision, recycled water will need to be stored during cool weather periods when the demand for water is low. Temporary storage of this water in poor quality aquifers is the subject of a major research project.