Where Does Our Water Come From?
T
he Darwin River Dam supplies 90% of the Darwin region’s drinking water.
The dam was built in 1972 and is located 65 kilometres south of Darwin and has the capacity to store 265,000 megalitres of water.
Groundwater from the McMinns and Howard East borefield also contributes to 10% of Darwin’s water supply. This equates to 8,420 megalitres of water each year.
All of Alice Springs’ drinking water comes from the Roe Creek Borefield.
The borefield sources water from the ancient Mereenie, Pacota and Shannon aquifers from between 100 and 150 metres underground.
The level of water at this borefield is dropping by one metre every year because the rate of extraction is higher and than what natural recharge (rain) puts back in.
The town’s non-potable water (not for drinking) comes from the Town Basin, located under Alice Springs. The Town Basin recharges when the Todd River flows and its water is used to irrigate local schools, ovals and the golf course.
Katherine
Katherine uses a mixture of ground and surface water for its drinking supply.
The Katherine River provides the surface water for the town which accounts for around 80% of the towns supply.
The groundwater comes from Tindal limestone at the Donkey Camp borefield located 3 kilometres east of Katherine.
In the dry season when Katherine’s water demand increases, often more groundwater is used to meet the demand which will increase the hardness of the water.
Tennant Creek
Tennant Creek uses groundwater from the Kelly Well and Cabbage Gum borefields for their drinking water supply.
The Kelly Well borefields have 13 bores and Cabbage Gum, the older borefield has two bores.
Both borefields are located south of Tennant Creek and source water from around 30 metres underground.
