Lab rat city ...
Can anyone explain to me why Toowoomba's residents are not the experimental laboratory rats for Australia.
Toowoomba will be the first city in Australia to use I-PU!
Presumably, if there are no long-term health effects from drinking the recycled water, other Australian cities may adopt the same technology.
Sounds to me like Toowoomba is lab rat city. Let's try it on the country cousins in Toowoomba. If they're ok, maybe we'll use it elsewhere ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 2:13 PM
2 Comments:
I don't agree with you about Toowoomba being called lab rats in relation to using sewerage water that has been recycled and used as drinking water. Sewage water is recycled and used in households in parts of England, America, Asia and Holland. The recycled sewerage water would be purer than our tap water (due to the RO, UV, and other treatment methods used). It is basically distilled drinking water. The only concern I have with the Toowoomba City councils waterfutures project seen on their website is the fact that we still need rain/run off to compensate for evaporation loss in the dams. Whilst I disagree that all options and alternatives have been looked at by the council due to poor consultation process with the local community, I do not have a problem with there preposal. Other large scale alternatives include tracking water from the clouds to the home have been pursued with some success in middle eastern countries but Australia seems to be slow in taking on board these types of alternatives and ideas.
6:41 PM, September 30, 2005
My view is that Toowoomba would be the first city in Australia to adopt such a project and, as such, the city's residents are lab rats for the rest of Australia.
The technology being used on the Toowoomba project is only currently in use in Singapore (for 2 years) and not yet in use in Orange County (35% completed).
The Council is unable to show the results of any long-term studies on the effects of ingesting recycled water using the proposed technology. Universities in Australia are still conducting studies on whether the current technology removes harmful elements from the water. For example, see: http://www.uow.edu.au/research/rso/grants/outcomes/external/2005/2005-arc-discovery.html#29.
The Federal Government's parliamentary report says it's too soon to do this - further research is needed. See: http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/RB/2005-06/06rb02.pdf .
In addition, the Mayor's so-called independent experts work for one of the contractors on the project.
The process is not transparent and raises the question of what else is not being disclosed to Toowoomba's residents. As an example, the Qld Gas Company proposal was buried by the Council.
I would happily drink the water if it could be shown conclusively that it is safe.
Thanks for your comment - this issue needs plenty of discussion.
6:44 PM, September 30, 2005
Post a Comment
<< Home