Rundown labs to test SEQ recycled water ...
See - Sunday Mail - Rundown testing facilities.
Funding for a new facility has been cut.
And these are the facilities which will test the recycled water ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 7:29 AM
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Funding for a new facility has been cut.
And these are the facilities which will test the recycled water ...
About Me
- Name: Concerned Ratepayer
- Location: Australia
For many years, the 4350water blog has informed readers of plans by the Toowoomba City Council (now Toowoomba Regional Council) and the Qld government to introduce recycled water for drinking in Toowoomba. It has also looked at the issue from a State and Federal perspective and dealt with related State and Federal political issues. There continues to be a need for the Toowoomba Regional Council to be completely transparent in its dealings with the ratepayers and residents of Toowoomba. There also continues to be a need for open debate on the benefits and risks of potable reuse and long-term studies on the effects on humans of drinking recycled water. Coal seam gas water is emerging as a possible alternate water source for some uses for the region. The 4350water blog is a collective effort and thanks go to its many contributors.
| Shower timer: | sec |
4350water tweets
Tweets by @4350waterPrevious Posts
- Nuttall charged: Premier Beattie's perfect (politi...
- The *?*?*! hits the fan - Mayors demand water acti...
- NZ media: NZ prof tells Aussies how to drink sewag...
- Gold Coast councillor - SEQ recycling advisory pan...
- Premier Beattie's sewer surfing circus ...
- The great $10 million Beattie spend commences ...
- Victoria adds desalination to its list ...
- Median home prices in Toowoomba rise again ...
- Victoria - how non-potable reuse works ...
- Victoria pushes ahead with recycled water for non-...
Loading...
4 Comments:
Unbelievable - and this is the testing facility that is supposed to assure us that recycled water will be safe for us!? Get real. It will take a lot more to get a Yes vote from me.
11:05 AM, January 21, 2007
Beattie, we do not trust YOU and you can be as sorry as you like about all of your troubles.
March 17 will deliver a NO vote.
No means No!!!!
7:35 AM, January 22, 2007
From ABC News:
Calls for drinking lab to test Brisbane water
21 January 2007
Brisbane's Labor councillors have called on the Liberal Lord Mayor Campbell Newman to set aside money for a new laboratory to test the quality of the city's drinking water.
Labor's water spokesman, John Campbell, says the current facility at Rocklea is not up to standard.
He says too much money has been diverted to the proposed cross-city tunnels at a time when the supply and quality of water is as big an issue as traffic congestion.
"We need to have first class facilities for a first class scientific team and its simply not good enough of the Lord Mayor to break a promise to staff and delay it because of a blow-out in the tunnels," he said.
But the Mayor's water spokeswoman, Councillor Jane Prentice, says money for a new laboratory is in this year's budget and Labor is being mischievous by saying otherwise.
"I think they're being very mischievous and quite frankly the buck stops with Labor with this particular one," she said.
"It's just another project that the Lord Mayor's inherited because of years of neglect."
11:43 AM, January 22, 2007
Rundown lab tests our water
By Ainsley Pavey
January 20, 2007
Quality testing of southeast Queensland's drinking water is being carried out at a crumbling laboratory with rusty equipment and filthy work benches, The Sunday Mail can reveal.
Shocking pictures taken at Brisbane City Council's termite-ridden facility at Rocklea show dirty sinks, broken cupboards, cracked paint and unstable walls.
As pressure on the laboratory reaches record levels, the Brisbane City Council has shelved plans for a $6.5 million replacement laboratory at Darra because of a budget blow-out from the North-South Bypass Tunnel.
The 37-year-old Scientific Analytical Services laboratory monitors bacteria levels in drinking water supplied to all homes and businesses in Brisbane.
Already, up to 240 samples are tested each week. The number is predicted to double within 18 months as the lab takes on work for the Caboolture aquifer project, the Southern Regional Pipeline and the Tugun desalination plant.
The rundown laboratory also will be responsible for testing recycled water to be added to drinking supplies if the March 17 plebiscite is successful.
Council water committee chairman John Campbell fears the "woefully inadequate" facility poses a public health risk.
He said the "termite-infested dump" was bursting at the seams. "Every square inch is used for water testing," Cr Campbell said.
The 32 staff were barely able to keep up with demand, because Brisbane's water network was double the size it was when the lab was built.
"I don't believe the council is able to say we have the best facilities for our staff to be able to carry out the increase in work," he said.
Council bosses had planned to start building the replacement lab this month but budget papers show funding was pulled in November after a $1 billion blowout in the cost of the North-South Bypass Tunnel.
Although the council has promised to include funds for the new lab in the 2007-2008 budget, it is unlikely to be built before 2009.
Cr Campbell said Lord Mayor Campbell Newman had broken a promise he made to staff last year to fund a new facility. "Staff are working under substandard conditions at a time they need the best facilities available," Cr Campbell said.
"It is not good for staff morale to be working in a termite-infested dump with the walls falling down around them."
Liberal council water spokeswoman Jane Prentice denied the tunnel blow-out was the reason the new laboratory had been deferred. She blamed State Government demands to cope with the drought, including the aquifer, pressure and water leakage programs, for the delay.
Cr Prentice defended the Rocklea plant.
"OK, we have a termite problem but the tests are still of a high standard and our priority is the drinking water in Brisbane," she said.
"The deterioration of the building did not happen overnight. The environment might not be up to modern standards, but the bottom line is the equipment is modern."
2:58 PM, January 24, 2007
Post a Comment
<< Home