Water recycling promises dust reduction
The Port Pirie Regional Council says a new water recycling plant at Nyrstar's lead and zinc smelter will help reduce dust levels in the town.
The $5 million project will reduce Nyrstar's reliance on Murray water by about 25 per cent by recycling 1.6 megalitres of industrial process wastewater a day.
Mayor Brenton Vanstone says the council will use about 100 megalitres a year, which amounts to about half of its water requirements for parks.
"The more water we can put on suppresses dust, reduces dust at the surface level and obviously then reduces exposure to the community," he said.
Nyrstar general manager Glenn Poynter says the plant will help its greening project.
"We've planted over 300,000 trees and shrubs on site, we recognise that greening areas will reduce dusting and that's clearly a source of lead for the community."
The recycled water is expected to be flowing by early next year.