Switch off Desal says water utilities

POWER-HUNGRY desal plants should be mothballed when dams are full to protect against soaring bills, the nation's water utilities say.

Water prices have risen as much as 22 per cent this month, coinciding with a $9 billion investment in desalination plants in capital cities.

The Water Services Association of Australia yesterday urged state governments to switch off desalination plants when they were not essential.

"If you've got all your dams overflowing, it's very difficult to justify them having the desalination plants still running," executive director Ross Young said. "It would save people money, and it would save greenhouse gas emissions."

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Source: The Australian