Paying for the privilege of drinking recycled water ...

Excerpt from the Courier Mail:

Bills to spiral

31 January 2007

Households and businesses are likely to pay top dollar for the privilege of having recycled effluent put into their drinking water supply as the State Government seeks to recover the massive costs of its rush to stop southeast Queensland running dry.

New details on the estimated cost of building and operating the desalination plant at Tugun and the western corridor recycled-water pipeline suggest that the days of cheap water are about to come to a sudden end.

Government estimates put the cost of producing water from the pipeline at about $2200 a megalitre, while water from the desalination plant is likely to cost about $3000 a megalitre – or a cool $375,000 for a single day's production.

See - Bills to spiral