No-one would 'lettuce' drink recycled water would they ...

Just when Brisbane is gearing up for its SEQ recycled water referendum comes news from down south that everyone is stumped as to why the lettuce is stunted and the golf greens are brown from the use of recycled water.

Apart from the Goulburn Mayor's proposal to push ahead with his great Goulburn recycled water experiment, the Beattie government is the only government in Australia currently proposing that its residents drink recycled water. No other state in Australia is currently proposing this.

The recycled water used in Victoria is likely to be of different quality to that which would have been used under the Water Futures project. But no-one is quite sure what type of recycled water Premier Beattie is proposing to pour into Wivenhoe Dam. Information is thin on the ground, leading people to think that the Beattie government has little or no idea on the issue.

So it's bad news for the Beattie government when the use of recycled water is called into question in Victoria.

From the Chronicle:

Burnt greens cause for water recycling concern

22 December 2006

Problems sound alarm bells to ears of horticulturalists

by Rebecca Vonhoff

Stunted lettuce and burnt grass are evidence of the great unknown in the recycled water debate, says Rosemary Morley.

Reports in Victoria this week about the effect of recycled water on horticulture "should send great big alarm bells ringing to everyone out there", Mrs Morley said.

Recycled water from the Werribee Sewage Plant used on the nearby golf club has prompted managers to question the water's chlorine content after the club's greens were burnt.

It has also been revealed lettuce crops in the Werribee district have begun to turn yellow and had their growth stunted.

Tests have ruled out fertilisation and farm practices as causing the problems, leading many farmers to blame the recycled water used in irrigation.

South Rural Water is investigating the crop problem and officials say, while the cause has not yet been determined, recycled water could be responsible,

Clinton Rodda, general manager of water supply with Southern rural Water, told ABC Radio the crop problems relate to "a limited number of customers who had issues with lettuces planted after the 15th of September".

"It seems there was a three or four week period where the lettuce just simply did not take off, didn't grown anywhere near as well as they would have normally, and for that period of time, most of those crops haven't proceeded through to their full size."

The crop anomalies have been reported to Victoria's chief health officer, Dr Robert Hall, though Dr Hall has said he had not been advised of any health threats cause to the public from eating the vegetables.

The developments have caused Mrs Morley to re-evaluate her stance on recycled water.

"I've always been for recycled water for industry and agriculture, but now maybe we have to look at agriculture if it's for food," she said.

The unexplained effects of recycled water highlights Mrs Morley's concerns about the issue.

"They just don't know what is going on and that's our whole point," she said.

"There's health concerns and no answers, and while that's the case we shouldn't drink it."


Interesting that the recycled water industry is largely silent on this issue at present.

Premier Beattie's response will most likely be - 'trust me' ...