Decentralised or desalination

The Victorian government has instituted a plan to build an enormous desalination plant. The idea, of course, is to create enough fresh water to supply the state for the “foreseeable future” (a phrase that sets off alarm bells for anyone who pays attention to politics at any level – it generally means until the next election).
A desalination plant is a large facility which requires enormous amounts of power and which generates great amounts of heat and waste. And even in the best case the final product needs to be moved over long distances to where it is used.
Of course there is quite a backlash from many different groups. The locals don’t want it near where they live. Greens have a number of reasons to object from pollution to power use to environmental damage. Even economists are concerned about the cost of the plant and potential return on investment.
All these are good points but my major concern is along different lines. Basically this is simply not a good solution to the underlying problem.
Centralisation of production generally is a throwback to the industrial revolution. With today’s technology there are often better methods and in this specific case there are many. This is a theme that I will return to in other cases as well. Decentralisation of resource production is often the best, simplest solution to the sort of sustainability problems that we are facing as a culture.
In the case of water as a resource, there is more than enough fresh, clean water available exactly where it is needed. But we throw this away into the ocean and are now proposing to import it again over a long distance after an expensive and difficult re-processing.
Instead we should consider how to best utilise the rain which is generally available. At minimum water tanks could be installed in every household and to all major buildings. Re-cycling storm water (which would only need minor re-processing) as well would provide the majority of requirements. We may still need catchment areas for cultivation and supplementary supply, but new dams and especially the facilities such as desalination should generally be unnecessary.
Such a solution would be far superior in numerous ways. It would be more robust; failure at one site would have almost no impact across the rest. It would be more flexible; variations according to site needs would be easy to implement. It would be more extensible; updates and additions can easily be rolled out as needed (for instance adding a first flush system so that the water can be used for drinking as well. It would be more scalable; additional capacity can be added easily and specifically in locations where required. It would be more maintainable; although trained personnel (plumbers) would be required but not the sort of specialists necessary at a central plant. And, support costs would be dispersed to the individuals who benefit most taking significant load off the government.
Of course, there would not be a big new project run and owned by the government. It would not make the same sort of splash in the news. And there is no where need the same sort of control over the process.