The great $10 million Beattie spend commences ...
And so it begins.
Starting with an initial $120,000 on experts in white coats to convince you to drink recycled sewage water.
Ask yourself several questions:
1. How many of the panel do not live in SEQ?
2. Do they drink recycled sewage water where they live?
3. Will those not living in SEQ be moving here SEQ to drink recycled sewage water or taking their consultancy fees and expenses and going home?
Excerpt from QWC press release (annotated):
Full membership of expert advisory panel announced
17 Jan 2007
The Queensland Water Commission today announced the full membership of the independent Expert Advisory Panel that will provide advice to the Commission on technical issues associated with purified recycled water.
Commission Chair Elizabeth Nosworthy said the panel’s key role will be to provide independent advice on the regulatory framework for purified recycled water and the Western Corridor Water Recycling Scheme.
“The panel chaired by Professor Paul Greenfield has the expertise, knowledge and experience to address technical requirements associated with purified recycled water,” she said.
[But how will Beattie address the issue that people just don't want to drink recycled water and two months is too short a period to convince them otherwise?]
“The Commission will also be drawing on the technical advice provided by the Panel on the management of South East Queensland water supply issues associated with purified recycled water.”
Expert Advisory Panel Chair Professor Paul Greenfield said the members that have been selected for the panel are world leaders in the fields of ecotoxicology, environmental science, microbiology and advanced water treatment.
The members included in the panel are:
Chair Professor Paul Greenfield AO (Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Queensland)
Professor Brian Priestly (ecotoxicologist, Australian Centre for Human Health Risk Assessment)
Professor Richard Bull (ecotoxicologist, Washington State University)
Professor David Hamilton (environmental scientist, University of Waikato)
Dr Joan Rose (microbiologist, Michigan State University)
Harry Seah (advanced water treatment expert, Singapore Public Utility Board)
Professor Mike McLaughlin (environmental chemist, CSIRO)
Professor Ian Frazer (Director, Diamantina Institute for Cancer Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, University of Queensland, Australian of the Year)
Dr Zelle Hodge (President of the Australian Medical Association Queensland)
Professor Greenfield said this panel of local, national and international experts will provide advice and assess the proposed water quality monitoring requirements for ensuring all health and safety requirements are met.
“A major part of this assessment will be to look at the capability of the proposed treatment processes to remove all contaminants of concern from the recycled water,” he said.
“We will also be making recommendations on reporting arrangements for water quality and system performance."
“The panel will report to the Commission and provide independent advice about proposed standards for purified recycled water, as well as the development of the Western Corridor Water Recycling Scheme.
Ms Nosworthy said the Commission would also seek the advice of the Panel on specific scientific issues which may arise prior to the March 17 plebiscite.
“In the lead up to the plebiscite, the Commission will be coordinating public forums, consultation sessions and providing fact sheets for the community on our website. [Sounds like some NEWater tasting sessions are on the agenda.]
See - QWC announces Beattie's panel.
Wonder if any of them will say don't drink recycled water? Hmm, not paid to say that.
What the press release doesn't say:
The panel will have cost taxpayers $120,000 by March 17, much of it in travel expenses.
The panel will meet twice before the plebiscite and also compile a report to the government by the end of next month.
See - SMH - Advisory panel costs.
How scant is the report going to be when they will meet twice before 17 March?
The Beattie sewer surfing circus continues ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 6:28 AM
8 Comments:
I think they underestimate the public.
They have the ability to know that the Beattie plan to bring recycled sewage water with-out any testing to them is not the way they want to go.
Brisbane has desal water and more can be built using gas power to drive it as it is close to the ocean.
This would be environmentally friendly so they do not have to settle for this cheap, nasty option.
All this Beattie government is interested in is to use the plan as a "TEST CASE" and it can be held up as an example for large American companies to sell their membrane technology all over the world.
There is no doubt that the end game is to privatise our water supply and the Federal government have acknowleged this in statements this week.
8 weeks is not enough time to "educate the public or change their perception"!
7:16 AM, January 18, 2007
Waterwoe,
Its worth remembering that desalination plants use exactly the same membranes as reverse osmosis plants, manufactured by exactly the same American (and European) companies. I think it would be appropriate to choose your preferred argument between promoting desalination and suggesting that recycling is all about selling membranes. These two arguments don’t work well together.
11:22 AM, January 18, 2007
Desalination is often criticised for being 'less environmentally friendly' than recycling.
Two main reasons - higher energy cost and then the salt water waste stream being pumped back into the sea.
It makes sense to explore the option of greater use of desalination in the Brisbane area using gas to power the plant. Not considering this is ignoring options - but we've seen that before.
The argument that pouring concentrated salt water into salt water off Brisbane is not environmentally friendly doesn't really hold water. We're not talking about the Barrier Reef.
The recycled water RO waste stream will also be pumped into the sea - unless Beattie plans to build hundreds of hectares of evaporation ponds he hasn't told us about (just like Toowoomba!)
Ultimately, there seems little point trying to force an unacceptable product on unwilling consumers - unless you want to limit population growth in SEQ.
It's probably why Woolworths and Coles aren't rushing to sell NEWater in their stores.
12:00 PM, January 18, 2007
Imagine building a gas-fired desalination plant for Brisbane which increases the demand for gas from South West Qld which increases the amount of gas water extracted which can be used in towns in that region. Just a thought.
12:02 PM, January 18, 2007
R,
I have difficulty in sharing your utopian vision of ever-increasing exploitation of natural resources. However, there are two important misconceptions in your comment that I would like to address.
The first is fairly obvious: if a gas-powered desalination plant is considered by anyone to be ‘environmentally friendly’ based on the quantity of carbon dioxide produced, then a gas-powered recycling plant would have to be considered many times more environmentally friendly since it would require considerably less energy (gas) and produce considerably less carbon dioxide.
The issue about desalination brine is an important one. Unlike plumes from sewage outfalls (which rise to the surface), desalination brines are denser than seawater so it is very difficult to prevent them from forming a hyper-saline layer on the seabed. Most organisms (and yes, there are many) and seagrasses etc, that live on the seabed are able to tolerate only very limited variations in salinity. The potential effects of desalination brine offshore from Brisbane are currently unknown, since they have never been seriously investigated. However, there is good reason for caution.
12:40 PM, January 18, 2007
"The potential effects of desalination brine offshore from Brisbane are currently unknown, since they have never been seriously investigated."
And the potential effects of residual chemicals in recycled water poured into SEQ's main water supply are currently unknown, since they have never been seriously investigated.
1:08 PM, January 18, 2007
As suggested earlier:
Ultimately, there seems little point trying to force an unacceptable product on unwilling consumers - unless you want to limit population growth in SEQ.
It's probably why Woolworths and Coles aren't rushing to sell NEWater in their stores.
1:13 PM, January 18, 2007
Stop fighting DESAL Stuart.
1:03 AM, January 19, 2007
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