In March 2017, the Gold Coast Desalination Plant at Tugun increased production while the Mudgeeraba water treatment plant was shut down for critical infrastructure maintenance. The plant, built in 2010, was to supply up to 60 million litres of drinking water per day (60,000 m³/day) to more than 170,000 residents on the southern Gold Coast, including Robina, Palm Beach and Currumbin. It normally ran in hot standby mode. According to Seqwater's acting chief executive Jim Pruss, it was the fourth such use outside emergencies since 2015.
The report showed that a desalination plant on hot standby can do more than cushion droughts and emergencies: it can also secure planned maintenance within a regional water grid.
Source: Utility Magazine