MP Hunt: best use of sewage - on farms ...
Excerpt from the Australian:
Best use of sewage 'on farms'
27 December 2006
Recycled sewage could be used for drinking if it can be done safely, but the priority should be on using it for agriculture and industry, Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Greg Hunt said yesterday.
Mr Hunt said he saw no problem with recycling sewage for domestic use.
"The priority is that it should be recycled for industry and agriculture, but I have no in-principle problem with water being recycled for the potable system as long as the health authorities are satisfied," he told The Australian.
...
Labor's water spokesman, Anthony Albanese, said attitudes towards drinking recycled water were a "distraction ... given that households use less than 9 per cent of the nation's water".
"The truth is that for most of Australia, recycling water for drinking is unnecessary and a distraction from the need to progress reform," he said.
"Greater use of recycled water for industry and commercial purposes and to water parks and gardens will free up valuable drinking water, and help increase the environmental flows."
See - Best use of sewage 'on farms'.
But how do you satisfy the health authorities when there are no guidelines for the potable use of recycled water ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 6:36 AM
5 Comments:
I find it interesting that we now have an expert come out and tell us what we have already known.
Dr. Grace Mitchell said alternatives from cleaner sources such as ground water and tank water should be explored first. She goes on to say " We are able to treat water to a high standard using membrane technology, BUT there is always a small chance that we could find trace elements of things that we can't detect.
It is feared microscopic pathogens and chemicals in recycled sewage may evade even the most sophisticated filtering."
Now there is division in the ranks of the experts.
1:19 PM, January 02, 2007
This is particularly so given that the authorities (Toowoomba City Council, Qld Government) are unable to confirm how many of the over 70,000 chemicals currently in existence they will test the recycled water for before adding it to dam supplies.
Premier Beattie is talking about having no testing period at all. Just pump it in and hope for the best.
2:44 PM, January 02, 2007
Testing for individual chemicals is not really a satisfactory method for assessing the safety of recycled waters. Toxicity testing of the complete mixture is a much more prudent approach. If concentrated water extracts can be shown to be non-toxic to a range of assays for carcinogenicity etc, then there is less concern about unidentified toxic chemicals.
Nonetheless, monitoring for some key individual chemicals will provide assurance that the treatment processes are performing as they should.
3:32 PM, January 02, 2007
2nd Jan and the UNSW is already blog surfing. Get ready for another couple of months or so of the great debate!
4:07 PM, January 02, 2007
Less concern but obviously not 'no concern'.
The example of human error in the case of the Towoomba City Council during 2006 shows that systems are not infallible and that people are correct to question broad claims that 'it's perfectly safe' and 'nothing can go wrong'.
But perhaps the recycled water industry has invented the machine that can never break down!
4:13 PM, January 02, 2007
Post a Comment
<< Home