Remote Communities

Across WA there are over 300 remote communities many of which occur in the north of the state spread across parts of the Kimberley region, and others dispersed across the centre of the state from the Pilbara region in the central-east to the Goldfields region in the central-west. Each region has a strong desire for self-determination, improved services, and culturally appropriate solutions to their pressing issues.

  • In the West Kimberley region, there are 127 communities with around 4,200 residents. Many communities are seasonal or uninhabited, and leaders are calling for more local control, better services, and a focus on cultural preservation.
  • The East Kimberley region has 94 communities and 3,200 people, with remote areas struggling with isolation, poor infrastructure, and high living costs. Leaders here seek improved housing, education, and infrastructure, along with greater community decision-making.
  • The Pilbara region has 23 communities and 1,300 people, with overcrowded housing, slow repairs, and inadequate education and healthcare services. Leaders push for more locally tailored solutions.
  • In the Goldfields region, particularly the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, communities face extreme remoteness, limited services, and lack of economic opportunities, with criticism aimed at the ineffective Community Development Program (CDP). Reform is needed to better support these communities.

Remote communities in Western Australia face a complex range of challenges, a key one being access to reliable water of acceptable drinking quality, along with appropriate wastewater management.

Water quality and demand

Water reliability is a key challenge, with many communities relying on bore systems for groundwater from many different aquifer types which in some cases does not meet Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and may lead to health concerns.

Remote community water demand is generally low with about 80% of communities using approximately <35 ML/year which is generally sourced from local to intermediate scale aquifers including alluvium, palaeovalleys and fractured and weathered rocks.

Key water quality issues are related to both aquifer-types and climate conditions and include elevated groundwater salinity and hardness, elevated nitrite, nickel and manganese and microbiological contamination. Other elements found to be above drinking water standard included: aluminium (Al), silica (Si), lead (Pb), uranium (U) and boron (B).

Water demands and quality data were used to identify the most suitable treatment technologies based on both the required volume and the specific water quality challenges. Key considerations specific to remote areas of WA include:

  • Aesthetic parameters such as turbid water with high suspended solids (sand, clay, rust or biological solids), water hardness (mostly from dissolved calcium and magnesium salts), and high or low pH (between pH 4.0-8.5) 
  • Groundwater salinity with total dissolved solids (TDS) typically below 1,500 mg/L but often higher than Australian Drinking Water Guideline palatability levels of 600 mg/L
  • Specific contaminants of concern, such as uranium (U), manganese (Mn), and nitrates. Naturally occurring uranium and nitrates in water are particularly common in the Goldfields and Mid-West regions. Elevated nitrate concentration (recommended infant concentration limits) is also present in the Agricultural regions, including Wiluna, Yalgoo, Leonora, Laverton, Menzies, Cue, Meekatharra, Mt Magnet, Sandstone and New Norcia and some of these regions have seen progressively reduced nitrate concentration with appropriate water treatment
  • Potential microbial contamination, including E. coli and Naegleria. The WA Auditor General’s Report, Delivering Essential Services to Remote Aboriginal Communities identified high E.coli levels in remote communities like Bobieding, Kadjina, Kandiwal, Kupartiya, La Djarjarr Bay, Mt Margaret, Mulga Queen, Ngurawaana, Patjarr and Yulga Jinna. Water utilities are also adopting microbial health-based targets (HBT) with log reduction value (LRV) of 1 means 90% microbial risk has been removed
  • Modest daily water demand, generally less than 100 kilolitres per day.

Water treatment

When selecting water treatment technology, it is essential to assess local conditions such as water quality, remoteness, and the availability of infrastructure. This careful evaluation ensures that the chosen technology is suitable for the specific context and purpose, allowing for the development of solutions tailored to well-defined local water supply challenges, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Choices for water treatment technology must be tailored to the unique needs of remote and culturally diverse communities. This includes prioritising systems that are:

  • Based on simple and robust technologies with proven relevant field operations
  • Suitable for limited energy availability in remote areas (e.g., renewable energy compatible)
  • Capable of functioning with minimal operational maintenance, brine production or waste disposal requirements
  • Suitable for low water demands

There are a number of currently available water treatment technologies including: coagulation, adsorption, ion exchange, filtration or desalination

In addition, a series of emerging technologies which have been tested in WA and elsewhere and may prove suitable for different water quality issues include forward osmosis-reverse osmosis, capacitive deionisation, ultrasound assisted electrodialysis reversal, enhanced evaporation towers or UV disinfection using LED.

Renewable energy

Power supply can be unreliable, with many communities depending on diesel generators, which are expensive and unsustainable. There is interest from key stakeholders in renewable energy (solar, wind), but many existing systems are non-functional or disconnected.

  • The LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) across 312 sites, including 274 remote and 38 town-based communities, shows a general trend where the lower LCOEs are found in the western coastal areas and inland, while higher LCOEs are in the northeast.
  • These estimated costs consider power from a hybrid system comprising renewable energy and battery storage, which stores excess power for use during low energy production periods, with a diesel generator for backup power.
  • The minimum energy cost occurs in Mungullah which is located on the coast in the Gascoyne region (eastern WA). The maximum energy cost occurs in Bindoola which is located in the central-north part of WA.