Inland Waters
Page 183
Adelaide Enfield the main industrial users are Penrice Soda Products at
Osborne, and the Coopers Brewery at Regency Park.
A marked drawdown cone has developed in the Adelaide Plains Sub-basin
region as a result of the combined effects of:
•
summer extraction by several golf clubs in the western suburbs;
•
large-scale perennial extraction by Penrice at Osborne and the Dry Creek
Salt Field operations
•
extraction from the Thebarton industrial area.
Condition Indicators:
Number of registered bores and wells in the City.
Map 13 (page 194) shows the location of drill holes within the City - there are
currently 495 drill holes in operation. Drill holes have a range of purposes
besides extraction such as investigation, monitoring, exploration and recharge.
Of the total 495 drill holes, 390 holes are registered domestic bores or wells
extracting groundwater for domestic purposes such as turf and garden
irrigation. This does not include bores or wells installed prior to 1960 or
unregistered bores - the total domestic number of bores is therefore likely to be
significantly greater than this number (Department for Water, pers comm 2010).
A complete survey of bore sites and groundwater use remains an important
need. This information is important to gauge an accurate estimate of the volume
of groundwater extraction that is occurring and also investigate where bores are
located adjacent to potentially contaminated sites or septic tank systems.
Understanding of the location and uses of bores is important for both
environmental and public health protection.
The Department for Water records indicate that uses based on permit holdings
shows that 378 wells were for domestic purposes, 112 wells for irrigation, 23
wells for industrial and 173 unknown uses.
The number of industrial groundwater wells has reduced since 2005, however
the irrigation wells have increased in number. Industrial demand causes the
greatest pressure on groundwater resources as industrial demand is required
throughout the year unlike seasonal irrigation demand which allows the aquifer
a chance to recover during the winter period. The continuous industrial demand
around the Wingfield area has resulted in perpetual drawdown cones that do
not recover.
Condition Indicator:
Ground water quantity classification of Central Adelaide
Plains
There is insufficient data to determine salinity trends in the Central Adelaide
PWAs. However, in some hotspots salinity is high in the Northern Adelaide
Plains PWA (e.g. in the T1 aquifer in the Waterloo Corner area) groundwater
salinity is 2,500 mg/L. In the Central Adelaide PWA, groundwater in the T2
