As Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is the second largest bird rookery on the Great Barrier Reef, we are unable to capture rainwater for drinking. To combat this the water supply on Lady Elliot Island is created by a reverse osmosis desalination system converting sea water to pristine clean fresh water. Water can be consumed from ALL taps around the Resort or taps in the rooms.

Originally, the desalination plant produced water at a rate of 14 litres per minute, 24 hours per day, however, after a lot of improvement we now achieve 25 litres per minute which allows all water required to be produced during daylight hours meaning the Islands drinking water is supplied courtesy of the sun!

Water is a precious resource and we ask guests to conserve water where possible to ensure we have enough for everyone, and to preserve of our wonderful environment. Our water conservation measures include:

  • Automatic 3 day laundry service for guests (unless requested)
  • Water efficient appliances, shower heads and taps
  • Linen laundry sent back to the mainland to reduce water consumption the Island.

Our wastewater/grey water is treated to a high level in our new AdvanTex Wastewater Treatment Plant and reused for irrigation of the airstrip and in our Re-Greening Program (no wastewater is discharged to the reef). A MEDLI study has been carried out to ensure our wastewater system complies with current best practice.

As per our commitment to sustainable ecotourism practices, we are no longer selling plastic water bottles on the Island. However, guests can bring reusable bottles or buy one of our Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort Water reusable bottles (Recycled Plastic & Stainless Steel) from the Gift Shop that can be filled from drinking fountains located around the Resort or from taps in the rooms.

SOURCE Hydropanels

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is very excited to have been chosen as a demonstration site for the SOURCE Hydropanels manufactured by Zero Mass Water. 

Zero Mass Water has designed a Hydropanel that only needs sunlight and air to make safe, delicious drinking water. 

Already committed to renewable energy by generating over 80% of power from the hybrid solar power station, we are very excited to install this ground breaking new technology. The project received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program.

Array Energy and Zero Mass Water have installed eight (8) SOURCE panels on Lady Elliot Island to produce renewable water! 

SOURCE is completely off-grid and self-contained, creating drinking water from nothing but sunlight and air. Using advanced water capture technology, the SOURCE installation on Lady Elliot Island can replace up to 60 standard PET bottles on a sunny day.

SOURCE utilizes solar power and a small battery to enable water production when the sun shines and water delivery on cloudy days or at night.