ABSTRACT
An aquifer storage and recovery scheme was developed initially to provide an emergency town water supply in a location where blue green algal toxins have potential to make direct supply from a distal lake on the River Murray unfit for domestic use during summer. As the project developed it became clear that the reduction in turbidity occurring during aquifer passage, and a consequent elimination of residual chlorine was highly valued by the community. In spite of a very low recovery efficiency as a result of a highly saline unconfined aquifer with karstic properties the ASR scheme is now the main supply for the township throughout the year. This paper describes the history of development of the project and the consequent water quality improvement observed at Clayton, South Australia. This is Australia’s first ASR project established with the intention of potable water supply, and has been successfully developed within a challenging hydrogeological environment.
