Birdsville gets its power from a geothermal power station.
A bore has been sunk 1280metres into the Great Artesian Basin which delivers water under pressure at a temperature of 98deg C to the station. Once the water has passed through the power station, it goes into the town water supply.
I think this is the outlet from the station to the town water. The water is actually very nice
I've never seen one of these at work, though I learned about them in my college geology class long ago, and I remember Australia was one of the countries using them. They tried geothermal power in the mountains near us, but it was not cost effective. We've hiked through the remains of their efforts.
We had the hot and smelly artesian water when we lived in Barcaldine many moons ago. The water was so hot out of the tap that the bath had to be filled to allow it to cool down slightly before a bath in summer. The water was lovely to drink if refrigerated first. It was high in naturally occurring fluoride, needless to say our children have great teeth :)
