As much as 700 tonnes of greenhouse emissions will be reduced at the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre (MARC) once the City’s pioneer geothermal heating system becomes operational in winter.
The project, which has been in the cards since 2014, is part of the City’s MARC development project and will use naturally heated water from one kilometre bellow the ground to heat up the air and water at the recreational centre.
It is expected that once the project becomes operational, it will provide between 70 and 80 per cent of the centre’s heat energy.
The rest would be topped up with natural gas.
It is estimated the project will save the City $170,000 yearly in operational costs, and would effectively reduce Mandurah’s carbon footprints.
The construction of two geothermal bores is now complete as part of the overall geothermal heating project, with the next step being the connection of the geothermal water pipelines into the mechanical heating system.
“The project has proceeded with difficulty due to the unknown nature and configuration of the geomorphology of the soil encountered at depth,” a report by the City of Mandurah read.
“The next step is the completion of the connection of the geothermal water pipelines into the mechanical heating system.
“It is expected that this will be completed in March and the geothermal heating system will be operational in time for the cooler months when heat energy requirements significantly increase.”
The MARC overall redevelopment project is going ahead of schedule, and it is expected to be completed by mid-2017.
Marta Pascual Juanola
Photojournalist from Barcelona, currently based in WA. Five languages speaker: English - Català - Español - Norsk - العربية.
Photojournalist from Barcelona, currently based in WA. Five languages speaker: English - Català - Español - Norsk - العربية.
