Sludge Watch ==> Dry Aussies could drink sewage

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The role of sewage systems in pumping limited groundwater resources needs to 
be reexamined.
It hardly makes sense to use limited fresh water supplies as a toilet waste 
conduit matrix.

Wouldn't a move to waterless toilets make sense in a town like this?

............................................................................

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1972858,00.html


Dry Aussies could drink sewage
25/07/2006 18:06  - (SA)




Ed Johnson


Sydney - Residents of a drought-stricken Australian town will vote this week 
on whether or not they're prepared to drink water recycled from sewage.

The controversial proposal has divided the town of Toowoomba in the state of 
Queensland, which has faced water restrictions for a decade.

Mayor Dianne Thorley is leading the "Yes" campaign.

She said that without drought-breaking rains, the town's dams could dry up 
within two years.

She insisted the A$73m (about R385m) plan to pump purified wastewater back 
into the main reservoir for drinking was safe.

"Somewhere, sometime we have got to stand up and change the way we are doing 
things," said Thorley as the town prepared for the July 29 referendum.

"Otherwise, our great-grandchildren are going to be living in something like 
the Sahara Desert."

A vocal "No" campaign opposes the proposal, and says there are unforeseeable 
health risks for the town's 100 000 residents.

Waste water cleansed and treated

"The scientists say it should be safe," said local councillor Keith Beer. 
"That is not good enough for me, for my kids and my grandkids."

Australia is in the middle of the third-worst drought in the country's 
history.

The so-called Big Dry is affecting the eastern states of New South Wales, 
Victoria and Queensland, as well as South Australia and the southern island 
of Tasmania.

It has cost the rural economy A$5bn and many regional communities are 
teetering on the brink of collapse.

Toowoomba city council said the solution was to recycle sewage and pump it 
back into reservoirs for drinking, a system known as planned indirect 
potable re-use.

The wastewater would pass through seven cleansing and treatment processes 
including ultraviolet disinfection, advanced oxidation and ultrafiltration 
before being pumped into the town's Cooby Dam.

It would remain in the reservoir for three years for testing, before being 
pumped through the town's existing water treatment plant.

'We are not guinea pigs'

The council said the process would remove viruses, bacteria and hormones 
from the water.

Supporters say it is more responsible than allowing partially treated 
effluent to flow into river systems and be used by other towns for drinking 
water.

A microbiologist at Queensland University of Technology, Megan Hargreaves, 
said recycled water was safe, but people had to get over the "yuk factor".

"Safety wise, there are no microbiological problems with recycled water," 
she said.

"My opinion is that recycled water is safer than the water in our dams 
because it has already been through a stringent treatment process."

But, the "No" campaign website reads: "Nowhere else in the world 
deliberately drinks water reclaimed from sewage to the degree proposed by 
Toowoomba.

"Any water supply for more than 100 000 people should use tried and proven 
methods. We are not guinea pigs."