Rottnest Island - Services

Services

Rottnest Island has few permanent residents, with most island workers commuting from the mainland.

As Rottnest is isolated from the mainland, and has no fresh surface water, providing water, power and waste disposal has always been difficult and expensive. In 1996 Rottnest introduced the first public place recycling program in Western Australia. In 2000 the island won the 3R awards (reduce, reuse and recycle). A daily supply barge — Spinifex — makes a return trip from Fremantle, delivering supplies and removing rubbish.

For many years during the twentieth century, the water supply was rainwater harvested from several large bitumen sealed catchment areas behind Longreach Bay. In the 1970s fresh water was found underground and was used to supplement the rainfall supply. In 1995 the supply was further supplemented with desalinated groundwater, using a reverse osmosis plant producing up to 500 kL per day.

Experimental wind turbines were commissioned in 1978; however, high maintenance requirements and excessive power generation resulted in Diesel remaining the main power source. In 2004 a new 600 kW wind-Diesel system was erected; other works at the time included upgrades to the power station and the installation of low load Diesel generators. The wind turbine delivers approximately 37% of Rottnest's power requirements and saves over 400,000 litres of Diesel fuel per year.

Two fully automated lighthouses operate on the island to aid passing maritime traffic: Bathurst Lighthouse and Wadjemup Lighthouse. An extensive network of flashing markers and transit beacons indicate safe passages through the rocky entrances to bays.