The seriousness of the situation became evident two weeks ago during an investigation by the Human Rights Commission which revealed that 160m megalitres of sulphate-rich water, with a salinity of about 2 500mg/litre, will eventually land up in the river system each day.

The standard for human consumption is 600mg/litre. Janet Love, one of the commission‘s commissioners, proposed that alternative methods of desalination be sought urgently.
The wisdom of discharging the neutralised water, replete with salts, into the groundwater system is now being seriously questioned by environmental groups.