Desalination: Future-proofing Australia’s water security

When the Millennium Drought gripped Australia, it exposed the country’s deepest vulnerability: a dangerous reliance on rainfall. Years later, widespread floods delivered the opposite shock—too much water, too quickly, with nowhere to go. This is the story of how desalination is changing water security in Australia, for the better.

Water has always been a defining force in Australia’s story, shaping its communities, industries, and landscapes. But in recent decades, it has become a defining challenge. The Millennium Drought saw dam levels plummet, with storages in some cities dropping below 20 per cent. The crisis forced governments to accelerate action on alternative supply strategies, leading to a wave of investment in desalination, water recycling, and water efficiency measures.

But the weather didn’t settle. In the years since, climate volatility has only intensified. From the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires to back-to-back flooding across the eastern seaboard, Australia faces both the risk of extended dry periods and destructive rainfall events in rapid succession.

These extremes have one thing in common: they both reveal the fragility of our water systems. In a climate defined by unpredictability, water security demands more than tradition. It demands innovation, urgency, and scale.

This dual threat of drought and deluge is redefining how we think about water. The challenge is no longer just scarcity. It’s unpredictability. In that context, desalination has emerged not as a backup but as a foundation for a secure, climate-resilient water supply.

Desalination’s turning point

Across the country, major cities and regional centres are now exploring their next phase of supply augmentation. Each state approaches this differently based on topography, population growth, water storage history, and surface water reliability, but one tool consistently appears in the mix in water supply planning and investigations: desalination.

Desalination has long been part of Australia’s response to water scarcity. What’s changed is its scale, sophistication, and strategic importance. Once used to support isolated communities and mining towns, desalination has evolved into a core pillar of urban water planning.

From early solar ponds in the outback to today’s large-scale, renewable-powered facilities, desalination has matured in step with Australia’s climate realities. It has moved from the margins to the mainstream as an integrated, scalable, and climate-independent source of supply. Desalination now sits alongside water recycling, stormwater harvesting, and demand management as part of a diversified approach to long-term water security.

Julien Tauvry, a desalination expert with more than two decades of experience in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, is the Plant Director for one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most advanced desalination facilities. He has worked in R&D, engineering design and construction (E&C), operations, and stakeholder engagement and believes that the sector is now entering a critical new chapter.

“Desalination has never been an afterthought, and no longer should desalination be considered an option of last resort,” Tauvry said. “Its role is only growing. What matters now is how we use it. It is smarter, faster, and with a lighter footprint. That is the challenge and opportunity before us.”

Planning for the next water wave

Desalination is being considered in many jurisdictions across Australia, whether in pre-feasibility discussions, long-term master planning, or formal environmental assessments. This is not a gradual re-entry. It is part of what many are calling a second water infrastructure wave.

It has been more than a decade since Australia’s last major desalination investment. The earliest plants are already being evaluated for upgrade or expansion. Others are being scoped as greenfield proposals to meet emerging population demand and prepare for supply shocks.

According to SUEZ, the potential for desalination to augment system capacity across Australia in the next 10 years exceeds 1000 billion litres – more than twice the volume of Sydney Harbour. This includes combinations of plant expansions, modular rollouts in growth corridors, and new-build facilities in high-risk regions.

“These are real numbers, not theoretical models,” said Lisa Chan, Major Projects Lead for SUEZ Australia and New Zealand. “We’re seeing projects at various planning stages, from community consultation, technology trials and business case approval.”

Chan added that states such as Western Australia, Victoria, and South Australia are actively reviewing new site options or expanding their existing footprint capacity. “Most major cities in Australia are factoring desalination into their long-term strategies as a climate-resilient water source.”

Redefining desalination: efficient, scalable, essential

Once seen as a high-cost, high-energy solution reserved for drought emergencies, desalination today is a very different proposition. Technological advances in reverse osmosis, energy recovery, circularity and smart automation have redefined what modern plants can achieve.

“Desalination is no longer a fringe technology,” said Tauvry. “It is central to how we plan secure water futures. It is no longer just for crises but as part of normal operations.

“Infrastructure decisions can’t be reactive anymore. We need to plan decades ahead. Desalination offers certainty in uncertain times.”

Modern plants now routinely incorporate energy recovery systems that capture and reuse pressure energy within the reverse osmosis process, reducing energy consumption by up to 45 per cent compared to first-generation facilities. Many operate on 100 per cent renewable energy, and most are designed for flexible operation: scaling up in drought years and preserving during periods of lower demand.

“We’ve moved beyond the idea that desalination is a luxury,” said Tauvry. “It’s a necessity. And when designed well, it’s efficient and reliable.”

Innovation is the edge

While scale and reliability are desalination’s core strengths, innovation will define its future role. Chan leads SUEZ’s Major Projects Portfolios, with a strategic focus on integrating innovation and technology solutions for building next-generation desalination plant solutions.

“Desalination is entering a new phase,” she said. “One where digital technologies, environmental monitoring and resource recovery come together to create a cleaner, more circular water cycle.”

She points to predictive analytics platforms that help operators anticipate membrane fouling before it happens. The technology allows for proactive cleaning schedules, reduced downtime, and extended asset life. Sensors and digital twins are being used to simulate environmental impacts, plant performance and adjust operational strategies in real time.

“Innovation in this space is all about optimisation,” she said. “We want every drop of energy and water to be used as efficiently as possible.”

One particularly promising development is brine valorisation, a process by which the minerals in the waste stream are recovered and reused. SUEZ is trialling systems that recover magnesium, calcium, and even lithium from brine. Recovered minerals are used for remineralisation of the desalination permeate water, making the plant chemically self-sufficient by eliminating the need for traditional remineralisation systems and on-site chemical storage. In addition, the recovered by-products could create value streams for desalination plants and reduce their environmental footprint.

“That’s the future we’re working toward,” said Chan. “Desalination that doesn’t just supply water, but supplies resources, knowledge, resilience and sustainability.”

Climate-resilient by design

Modern desalination is no longer the high-impact, energy-intensive solution of the past. In Australia and New Zealand, it has become a mainstay of climate-resilient water supply.

In Perth, desalination already supplies around 35 per cent of the city’s drinking water. In Auckland, the Warkworth and Snells Beach Desalination Plant was brought online in 2021 to support regional supply during the city’s worst drought in decades. These are not backup options but core components of future-ready infrastructure.

Energy efficiency has also improved dramatically. Australia’s average seawater reverse osmosis plants now operate around 3.0 kilowatt-hours per kilolitre (kWh/kL), compared to more than 4.5 in the early 2000s. Thanks to energy recovery devices and high-efficiency pumps, new facilities are trialling sub-2.5 kWh/kL performance.

Beyond power, sustainability has taken on a broader meaning. SUEZ is trialling brine valorisation to extract minerals from the concentrate stream, advancing modular design for flexible rollout and construction efficiency, and deploying real-time environmental monitoring to reduce marine impact.

“We continue to research and enhance the value that we deliver through desalination,” said Chan. “Our innovation roadmap focuses on desalination as part of a circular, regenerative water cycle.”

Embedded in communities

Infrastructure doesn’t succeed on engineering alone. Community trust and participation are essential. Tauvry knows that the key is to be an active part of the community on a long-term basis.

“At SUEZ, we don’t just build and walk away,” he said. “We embed. We live locally. We train local staff. We open our doors to schools. We publish our data.”

His teams routinely host open days and site tours, collaborate with universities, and run STEM programs to create pathways into water sector careers. Internships, apprenticeships, and partnerships with Traditional Owners and local businesses are now standard practice.

“When people understand how desalination works, how efficient it is, and how it’s integrated into a bigger water story, the perception shifts,” Tauvry said. “It becomes something they trust.”

Desalination is no longer ‘some mysterious box on the coast’. It’s visible, open, and increasingly vital. With every new project, communities aren’t just receiving water; they’re becoming partners in resilience.

Learning locally, listening globally

Australia’s desalination journey over the past two decades offers a valuable playbook for the future. Early investments, flexible design, community integration and sustainability features have set a strong precedent for the next wave.

At the same time, Australia is learning from global leaders. In Spain, desalination plants now support agriculture and urban supply. In Oman and the UAE, massive coastal plants operate around the clock to meet demand from megacities. In Singapore, desalination is fully integrated into a broader system, including stormwater, reservoirs, and indirect potable reuse.

“The international lessons are there,” Chan said. “But the solution must always fit the place.”

In Australia, future projects will likely combine smaller, modular rollouts with larger regional hubs. Many will be co-located with renewable energy generation or embedded in broader water precincts and integrated water supply schemes, including wastewater reuse and recharge. “The next plants will look different to the last,” Chan said. “We will see even more sustainability integration and desalination as part of a complete system solution.”

The road ahead

Desalination is not a silver bullet. No single supply source can meet the full spectrum of challenges facing Australia’s water future. However, desalination is uniquely placed to provide dependable, rainfall-independent supply at scale. That’s especially true when paired with the right technology, environmental oversight, and operational expertise.

Integrated planning will be key. The cities of the future will need hybrid solutions that blend desalination with water recycling, aquifer recharge, stormwater harvesting, conservation, and smart metering. Each element must complement the others, supporting a system that is as diverse as it is dependable.

At SUEZ, systems-level thinking is already guiding strategy. “We are preparing for the second water infrastructure wave,” said Tauvry. “And we’re doing it with better tools, smarter systems, and deeper community partnerships.”

Chan is optimistic about the sector’s future.

“We’re building the next generation of desalination,” she said. “It’s more sustainable, intelligent, and integrated than anything that came before. That’s what it will take to build a truly future-focused, sustainable water supply.”

For more information, visit suez.com