Media Release, Research Story

Desal plants - good or bad? Find out at Open Day

Are water desalination plants a solution to water shortages or a drain on the environment?

That's the question being asked at The Forum [1] - a free public talk being held at the University of Adelaide as part of Open Day [2] this Sunday 17 August.

In The Forum, leading University of Adelaide researchers address big community issues in a panel format that gives members of the community the chance to interact, ask questions and have their say.

Apart from the obvious benefits of desalination plants, what are the negative implications? Have governments considered the high energy consumption levels and high costs of establishing and maintaining desalination plants? And what of the direct and indirect environmental effects?

These and other issues will be addressed in The Forum.

The panellists are:

• Professor Barry Brook [3] (Director, Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  
• Associate Professor David Chittleborough [4] (Co-Director, Water Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  
• Professor Graeme Hugo [5] (Professorial Research Fellow, Discipline of Geographical and Environmental Studies, and Director, National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems)
  
• Professor Wayne Meyer [6] (Professor of Natural Resource Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences)

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend the University of Adelaide's Open Day this Sunday 17 August.

WHAT: Water Desalination Plants: A Solution to Water Shortages or Drain on the Environment?
The Forum (free public talk) at Open Day 08

WHERE: Room LG 29, Napier Building Lower Ground, North Terrace Campus, University of Adelaide

WHEN: Sunday 17 August
The Forum: 1.00pm to 2.00pm (part of Open Day: 10.00am to 4.00pm)

COST: Entry is free - all welcome

For full details, visit the Open Day 08 website: www.adelaide.edu.au/openday [7]

[15]

The Forum will be held from 1.00pm to 2.00pm on Sunday 17 August on Open Day.
Full Image (62.37K) [16]