Comments on the Toowoomba debate ...

From the Ballarat Courier:

Qld city to vote, our result: no

24 July 2006

Ballarat residents would reject the option of drinking recycled wastewater, according to a webpoll by The Courier.

Of 480 responses received so far, 64 per cent have voted no to a poll question asking residents if they would drink recycled wastewater that was mixed with Ballarat's drinking water.

Only 30.2 per cent of respondents answered yes. A further 5.8 per cent remained unsure.

The results come as Toowoomba residents prepare to vote this Saturday on a proposal to recycle 25 per cent of the city's drinking water.

The historic referendum, the first of its kind in the world, has created deep divisions in the inland Queensland city, according to Toowoomba Chronicle journalist Kathleen Donaghey.

"It has become really personal," Ms Donaghey said. "People here feel that they are guinea pigs for the rest of the world. It will be the first time in the world that a quarter of the drinking water would be deliberately recycled and the first time in the world that there has been a referendum on the issue."

Ms Donaghey said Toowoomba was heading towards level five water restrictions and was in a unique situation as it was located on top of a mountain.

"We can't just pump water from somewhere else. That's why recycling was put forward as an option," she said.

"It is very hard to predict how it will go. It is split down the middle," she said. "In the beginning I thought definitely `no', which is just like your poll in Ballarat is telling you, but since it was first announced council has held about 160 forums educating and providing information.

"If it is successful here, then Brisbane will probably follow and then the rest of Australia," Ms Donaghey said.

"Some say we are blazing trails, others say we will be the laughing stock of the country."

Source - Ballarat Courier - Qld city to vote, our result: no.