This year, the focus of #WorldEnvironmentDay is on land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience. In Australia, water security is becoming a major concern, especially in rural areas experiencing water shortages.

The town of Narromine, located 40km west of Dubbo, has been dealing with water security issues for several years. The region’s reservoirs reached critical levels, and new bores revealed high concentrations of iron and manganese. In 2019, Narromine Shire Council partnered with SciDev to construct a temporary water treatment plant to address the high levels of iron and manganese in the newly drilled bores.

We spoke with Doug Moorby from the Narromine Shire Council about the impact of the water treatment plant on the town’s water supply. “The system is both eco-friendly and sustainable, which means that we no longer have to manage large volumes of difficult-to-treat sludge as a byproduct of treating drinking water. Another crucial aspect was the plant’s ability to produce drinking water of a standard that meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines as well as the regulations of the New South Wales Health Authority.”