Bore Water Treatment
Plant-scale treatment that takes raw groundwater to the quality your operation or irrigation actually needs, across the Sydney Basin.
Raw bore water is rarely fit for purpose straight out of the ground
Groundwater in the Sydney Basin is abundant, but it is not uniform. Bores in the Hawkesbury sandstone and the Cumberland Plain alluvium commonly carry dissolved iron and manganese, elevated salinity and sodium, hardness, sediment and turbidity, and in places a low pH. None of it makes the water unusable. All of it decides what the water can be used for, and what it will do to pumps, pipework, emitters, cooling towers and turf if it is put to work untreated.
Sydney Basin Water designs and builds bore water treatment as part of a commercial groundwater supply or an irrigation supply, and as stand-alone treatment where a site already has a licensed bore and wants the water brought to a specification. The specification comes first. We test the source, agree the quality each process or crop genuinely needs, and build the treatment train that closes the gap, rather than fitting a standard package and hoping.
The result is water delivered to an agreed quality and monitored against it, so what reaches your plant, your reticulation or your greens is the water the design assumed.
How a bore water treatment system comes together
TEST
Raw water sampled and analysed for iron, manganese, salinity, hardness, pH, turbidity and whatever else matters for your use. No design starts without the numbers.
DESIGN
The target quality is set by the end use, cooling make-up, wash-down, process water, turf or crops, and a treatment train is sized to your flow and the gap between raw and target water.
BUILD
Plant, storage, dosing and controls installed at the bore headworks and connected into your existing mains or reticulation, with the bore itself built by licensed drillers.
COMMISSION
Treated water tested against the specification, flows verified at design pressure, and the operating settings recorded before the supply is handed over or invoiced.
OPERATE
Ongoing monitoring against the specification, media and consumables managed, and the water quality record kept for your compliance and ours.
What untreated bore water costs you
Iron and manganese stain everything the water touches and progressively block emitters, sprinkler nozzles and heat exchange surfaces. Hardness scales pipework, valves and cooling tower fill. Elevated salinity and sodium damage turf root zones and soil structure season after season, and corrode fittings that were never designed for it. Sediment and turbidity wear pumps and foul filters. None of it shows up in the first month. It shows up in year three, as declining performance and infrastructure that needs replacing years early.
Treatment built to the actual water analysis removes that risk at the source. Under a supply agreement we own and operate the treatment plant and you buy water to specification by the kilolitre. Where you own the bore, we design, build and commission the plant and hand it over with the operating record. Either way the specification is written down, and the water is tested against it.
Treatment for every use of groundwater in the Sydney Basin
Iron and Manganese Removal
Oxidation and media filtration for the staining, blocking and discolouration the Sydney Basin's ironstone and sandstone aquifers are known for.
Salinity and Sodium
Blending, and where the analysis calls for it further treatment, to bring dissolved solids and sodium within the tolerance of your turf, crop or process.
Hardness and Scale
Scale control so cooling towers, valves and reticulation are not scaled up by calcium and magnesium over successive seasons.
Sediment and Turbidity
Multi-stage filtration that protects pumps, emitters and heat exchangers from fines and keeps the delivered water clear.
pH and Corrosion Control
Correction where the source water is aggressive to fittings or prone to precipitating minerals through the system.
Treatment, licensing and the water sharing plan
Treatment does not change the licensing position. Commercial extraction in New South Wales still needs a Water Access Licence with share components in the relevant groundwater source, a water supply works approval for the bore, and compliant metering under the non-urban water metering rules. Where treatment produces a waste stream, its disposal is part of the design, not an afterthought.
We handle the whole pathway alongside the treatment design, and where a site already holds its licence we work to it. Read how a commercial supply is licensed, or see BG Water Solutions' guide to bore water licences in NSW.