Construction does require large amounts of water!10gl/a Is what...

Construction does require large amounts of water!

10gl/a Is what they estimate will be required for 5/mtpa concerntrate production.
" The Murray Basin Waste Water Schemes can produce up to 12Gl/a of water for disposal "
I've said before, the word " can " doesn't fill me with confidence.

The amount of water needed for construction (earthworks construction) I referred to was my estimate only.
A brief overview
1st thing to establish on any construction project is usually the water fill points. These are normally referred to as Turkey nests. They are basicly a square or rectangular dam constructed usually with a dozer and digger built half in ground half above ground and lined with a poly liner. Turkey's nest are strategically placed within construction zone for optimal usage during construction and normally filled from pipelines conected to localised mine de watering borefield pumps.

(Vegetation Clear & Remove - Top Soil Clear & Remove)
As soon as the plant site, access roads, and infrastructure site earthworks begin, water is required to keep dust within EPA and safety limits. The control of dust during this step in construction alone uses BIG volumes of water. How much are BIG volumes in GL? Well that depends on the scale of the area's being stripped and cleared so it's difficult to say but I can assure you it's a lot.

(Borrow Pit Mixing)
The mixing of borrow pit material for embankment fill uses lots of water when conditioning to meet required compaction density testing.
Normally, there are 2 types of borrow pits 1 Embankment fill & 2 Select Basecorse Spec material and there can be a number of either borrow pits depending on proximity to construction location and quality and quantity in each borrow location.

Yes, construction does use a lot of water.