Sludge Watch ==> Brisbane Australia - residents don't want to drink sewage effluent

[Maureen Reilly]

"The publication claims that liquid waste from morgues and hospitals, paints 
and solvents would be part of a "horrendous toxic cocktail" in the sewage to 
be recycled for drinking. "

"Although Toowoomba residents voted against drinking recycled sewage by a 
large margin, they will be forced to do so anyway when the city is connected 
to the southeast Queensland water grid."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21765771-30417,00.html


Words twisted in anti-recycling propaganda
Greg Roberts
May 21, 2007


SCIENTISTS say they have been seriously misrepresented in material prepared 
for a campaign to undermine the Beattie Government's recycled sewage plan.

Brisbane will become the first capital to use recycled sewage for drinking 
by the end of next year, with recycled water to be pumped to the Wivenhoe 
Dam through the $1.7 billion western corridor pipeline, the biggest project 
of its kind in Australia.

Opponents of the plan have vowed to stop it. More than 500,000 copies of a 
glossy 20-page booklet -- called "Think Before You Agree to Drink" and 
costing $200,000 -- have been distributed in Brisbane in recent weeks.

The publication claims that liquid waste from morgues and hospitals, paints 
and solvents would be part of a "horrendous toxic cocktail" in the sewage to 
be recycled for drinking.

It claims that a large proportion of male fish changed sex through exposure 
to sewage pollutants, and that male lambs fed sewage sludge pellets behaved 
like females.

The booklet refers to what it describes as scientific studies that support 
the case against drinking recycled water.

However, four experts quoted in the publication have told The Australian 
that they in fact support the use of recycled sewage as drinking water.

Melbourne Water scientist John Poon is quoted as expressing concern about 
"longer-term health impacts from contaminants".

Mr Poon said the quote was taken from a long article, which indicated it was 
safe to drink recycled water. "They have misrepresented me by taking that 
comment totally out of context," he said.

University of Queensland biologist Peter Koopman is quoted as blaming 
pollutants for a 50 per cent drop in male fertility rates over the past 50 
years.

Professor Koopman said his comment had nothing to do with recycled water, 
which was not even available over those 50 years. "The implied link is 
nonsense," he said.

University of Wollongong engineer Long Duc Nghiem and CSIRO scientist Colin 
Creighton, who are also quoted in the brochure, said they were not opposed 
to drinking recycled water.

The publication was funded in part by John Dowson, a semi-retired land 
developer in the Darling Downs city of Toowoomba, where a referendum last 
June to introduce recycled water was defeated.

The campaign Mr Dowson funds is organised by Toowoomba councillor Snow 
Manners, who conceded that some experts quoted in the brochure may have been 
misrepresented. "They are all direct quotes but some may have been taken out 
of context," Mr Manners said.

"That is a reasonable thing to do. It is crucial that people realise 
recycled water is not a solution, no matter how desperate the water 
situation is."

Although Toowoomba residents voted against drinking recycled sewage by a 
large margin, they will be forced to do so anyway when the city is connected 
to the southeast Queensland water grid.