Lake Kepwari (man made)

[Wayno]

would be nice to have enough fresh water to do this!!!

Freshwater recreational Lake Kepwari set for summer opening
Tuesday, 05 August 2008

There’s good news for the South-West (of Western Australia), with Lake Kepwari expected to open this summer.

South-West Minister Mark McGowan said plans to transform the former mining void into one of Western Australia’s biggest freshwater recreational lakes were moving forward.

“With the planning phase complete and the partial surrender of the mining lease back to the State imminent, progress is now being made on finalising designs and tender documentation,” Mr McGowan said.

“We anticipate a late summer opening and that means water-skiers can enjoy everything the lake has to offer.”

Lake Kepwari, 10km east of Collie, is a mining void that has been rehabilitated by Wesfarmers Premier Coal.

It holds about 30 gigalitres of water and is almost two kilometres long, one kilometre wide and up to 70m deep.
Collie-Wellington MLA Mick Murray said plans for the first stage of the project included the development of a boat launching area, swimming beach, parking area, barbecues and shelters.

“There has been strong interest in the project from a number of water recreation groups,” Mr Murray said.

“The lake will be a drawcard to the South-West and raise the profile of Collie. It will complement the highly successful Collie Motorplex that was also supported by the State Government in partnership with Wesfarmers Premier Coal. It is set to become the centre for water-based recreation in the region.”

The project has received $3.29million from the State Government towards construction of infrastructure and management of the site.

Google Map Reference ==> http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8& ... 34961&om=1

[Shuz]

You know what would be nicer.

If the Government allowed recreational activities within our dams/reservoirs just like they do in the UK. It would boost tourism and leisure activities for those closer to urban centres. And if you're thinking 'the boat fuel will pollute our drinking water', you do realise it gets filtrated before it goes through our taps?

[Wayno]

You know what would be nicer.

If the Government allowed recreational activities within our dams/reservoirs just like they do in the UK. It would boost tourism and leisure activities for those closer to urban centres. And if you're thinking 'the boat fuel will pollute our drinking water', you do realise it gets filtrated before it goes through our taps?

i'd be happy if they allowed us to fish the reservoirs (even if i had to pay a few bucks). A friend and I occasionally used to sneak into the Happy Valley reservoir after dusk ~20years ago!

[fishinajar]

You know what would be nicer.

If the Government allowed recreational activities within our dams/reservoirs just like they do in the UK. It would boost tourism and leisure activities for those closer to urban centres. And if you're thinking 'the boat fuel will pollute our drinking water', you do realise it gets filtrated before it goes through our taps?

Most of the water in Adelaide reservoirs comes from the river murray anyway hey? Complete with fuel from boats, pesticides from agriculture, and lets face it...sewage from house boats and leaky septic tanks. That is why it is filtered.

[Jim]

This is a great idea. Also agree with the use of our reservoirs and dam reserves for recreation even if it is for just walking trails, kayaking and fishing.

[Aidan]

You know what would be nicer.

If the Government allowed recreational activities within our dams/reservoirs just like they do in the UK. It would boost tourism and leisure activities for those closer to urban centres. And if you're thinking 'the boat fuel will pollute our drinking water', you do realise it gets filtrated before it goes through our taps?

Im not saying we shouldn't do it, but it's not that simple.

In South Australia, we use rapid sand filtration. This is a physical process, and is reliable and cheap to run. Activated carbon is used to absorb chemical contaminants. This works well under normal conditions, but I'm not sure how well it could deal with a boat fuel spill.

In the UK they use slow sand filtration. This is a biological process, and is extremely good at removing contaminants. It requires a lot more land than rapid sand filtration.

[Shuz]

You know what would be nicer.

If the Government allowed recreational activities within our dams/reservoirs just like they do in the UK. It would boost tourism and leisure activities for those closer to urban centres. And if you're thinking 'the boat fuel will pollute our drinking water', you do realise it gets filtrated before it goes through our taps?

Im not saying we shouldn't do it, but it's not that simple.

In South Australia, we use rapid sand filtration. This is a physical process, and is reliable and cheap to run. Activated carbon is used to absorb chemical contaminants. This works well under normal conditions, but I'm not sure how well it could deal with a boat fuel spill.

In the UK they use slow sand filtration. This is a biological process, and is extremely good at removing contaminants. It requires a lot more land than rapid sand filtration.

If there's anything Australia's got, it's a fucking lot of land. UK is tiny (smaller than Victoria!). I'm sure somewhere we could do such things.
Think of the fun it would be to do all those resorvior activities.

[Aidan]

If there's anything Australia's got, it's a fucking lot of land. UK is tiny (smaller than Victoria!). I'm sure somewhere we could do such things.
Think of the fun it would be to do all those resorvior activities.

Yes Australia has got a lot of land, but we don't have all that much land next to our reservoirs. Even so, I expect we do have sufficient land for SSF (and if we don't, we certainly do for the alternative membrane filtration methods). But replacing all that existing infrastructure (most of which is still new) would be very expensive - probably far more than what those fun reservoir activities are worth.

It may still be possible to upgrade the existing filtration system to deal with these activities, but my point is that we use very different technology, so you can't just assume that what can be done is the same.