Ocean Monitoring
The marine waters off Western Australia support an unusually rich and diverse variety of temperate and tropical plants and animals. The Water Corporation takes its responsibility for disposing of treated wastewater seriously and the following initiatives are indicative of this commitment:
Perth's Long Term Ocean Outlet Monitoring (PLOOM) Program
In the Perth metropolitan area the Water Corporation is responsible for the collection, treatment and safe discharge of 320 million litres of treated wastewater per day to the ocean. Over the past 10 years the Corporation has been running the PLOOM program to monitor the influence of these discharges on the State’s clear, shallow and nutrient poor coastal waters.
The main concerns of wastewater discharge into these marine environments are:
- Nutrient enrichment mainly nitrogen and phosphorus
- Pathogenic microorganisms that can affect human health from recreation in the water and/or eating contaminated seafood
- Contaminants such as heavy metals and pesticides.
PLOOM regularly monitors:
- Water quality around the wastewater outlet and surrounding beaches
- Sediment quality around the wastewater outlet
- Phytoplankton which are microscopic plants otherwise called microalgae
- Marine habitats including rocky limestone reefs, seagrass meadows and macroalgae
- Heavy metals and pesticides in wastewater, sediments, marine animals, and
- Wastewater plumes using numerical modeling
PLOOM has demonstrated no evidence of any harmful effects on the receiving marine environment or beaches as a result of treated wastewater discharge.
All of the water quality and biological data collected by the PLOOM program is stored on a large database called SEABASE. To request access to this information contact Mark Nener.
Who's Involved
The PLOOM project team comprises of a multi-disciplinary group of scientists. Personnel from each organisation are responsible for carrying out monitoring and/or analytical tasks specific to their area of expertise.
| PLOOM Program Team | ||
| Involvement | Team Member | Organisation |
| Water Corporation Project Manager | Mark Nener | Water Corporation |
| Oceanica Project Director | Mark Bailey | Oceanica |
| Project Manager | Dr Glenn Shiell | Oceanica |
| Technical Advisory Panel | Professor Diana Walker Adjunct Professor Desmond Lord Professor Neil Loneragan Professor Bill Maher | University of Western Australia University of Western Australia Murdoch University University of Canberra |
| Treated Wastewater Characterisation | Dr Karen Hillman Dr Karen Crawley | Oceanica Oceanica |
| Initial Dilution Modelling | Michelle Carey | Oceanica |
| Water Quality Monitoring | Kris Wienczugow | MAFRL, Murdoch University |
| Annual Summer Water Quality Surveys | Mark Nener | Water Corporation |
| Phytoplankton Monitoring | Stuart Helleren | Dalcon Environmental |
| Periphyton Monitoring | Kris Wienczugow | MAFRL, Murdoch University |
| Review of 10-year PLOOM Oceanographic Data | Alan Pearce | Consultant Oceanographer |
| Seaglider Trials | Dr Ray Steedman | GHD |
| Ecotoxicity Testing | Dr Jill Woodworth Dr Rick Krassoi | Geotechnical Services Pty Ltd Ecotox Services Australasia |
| Seabase | Philip Kindleysides Kellie Holloway | Oceanica Oceanica |
| Annual Reporting | Dr Karen Crawley | Oceanica |
| Communications Material | Dr Glenn Shiell | Oceanica Oceanica |
More Information: