New remote drinking water supplies

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Plans are moving forward to install new desalination plants in Marla, Marree and Oodnadatta to provide safe, clean drinking water to our customers in these communities.

As part of your water network, we manage 19 non-drinking water systems across the state. These non-drinking water systems serve approximately 650 properties in our regional communities including customers in Marla, Marree, and Oodnadatta. Each location and community is different and presents its own unique challenges.

Our approach is to tailor and implement an individual solution for each town to supply them with drinking supplies now and for the future.

We operate nine desalination plants across South Australia including seven that treat groundwater to help ensure a reliable supply of groundwater to our communities. Building a desalination plant ensures that we can provide safe drinking water for the community.

The new desalination plants at Marla, Marree and Oodnadatta will treat water from the Great Artesian Basin. Although all plants receive their water from the Great Artesian Basin, each location has different water quality. This means that each desalination plant requires individual design to manage the different type of water.


Plans are moving forward to install new desalination plants in Marla, Marree and Oodnadatta to provide safe, clean drinking water to our customers in these communities.

As part of your water network, we manage 19 non-drinking water systems across the state. These non-drinking water systems serve approximately 650 properties in our regional communities including customers in Marla, Marree, and Oodnadatta. Each location and community is different and presents its own unique challenges.

Our approach is to tailor and implement an individual solution for each town to supply them with drinking supplies now and for the future.

We operate nine desalination plants across South Australia including seven that treat groundwater to help ensure a reliable supply of groundwater to our communities. Building a desalination plant ensures that we can provide safe drinking water for the community.

The new desalination plants at Marla, Marree and Oodnadatta will treat water from the Great Artesian Basin. Although all plants receive their water from the Great Artesian Basin, each location has different water quality. This means that each desalination plant requires individual design to manage the different type of water.


  • Learn more about desalination

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    We operate eight groundwater desalination plants across South Australia:

    • Hawker – this plant has produced drinking water for Hawker township in the Flinders Ranges since 2014, meeting the challenge of groundwater that is very hard and high in total dissolved solids.
    • Leigh Creek – drawing from a number of local bores, this plant treats a groundwater supply that is highly salty.
    • APY Lands and Yalata desalination plants – we operate desalination plants at Indulkana, Mimili, Kaltjiti (Fregon), Yunyarinyi (Kenmore Park) and Murputja in the far north of South Australia, and Yalata on the far west coast. Many of these plants are also solar-powered, helping ensure reliable and sustainable drinking water for everyone living in these communities.

    Read more about the process here.

  • Oodnadatta

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    Construction of the new water treatment facility in Oodnadatta is expected to begin in 2022 with customers receiving the new clean, safe drinking water supply before the end of this year.

    We’re currently completing site investigations, to inform detailed asset design.

    We’re working with local community representatives to plan construction in a way that minimises impacts and achieves positive associated outcomes for the local environment and community wellbeing. Details of our next community engagement activities are in the right hand column of this page.

  • Marla

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    Construction of the new water treatment facility in Marla is expected to begin in 2022 with customers receiving the new clean, safe drinking water supply before the end of the year.

    We’re currently completing site investigations, to inform detailed asset design.

    We’re working with local community representatives to plan construction in a way that minimises impacts and achieves positive associated outcomes for the local environment and community wellbeing. Details of our next community engagement activities are in the right hand column of this page.

  • Marree

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    Construction of the new water treatment facility in Marree is expected to begin in 2022 with customers receiving the new clean, safe drinking water supply before the end of the year.

    We’re currently completing site investigations, to inform detailed asset design.

    We’re working with local community representatives to plan construction in a way that minimises impacts and achieves positive associated outcomes for the local environment and community wellbeing. Details of our next community engagement activities are in the right hand column of this page.

Page last updated: 27 Apr 2022, 04:38 PM