Sewage plans go down the drain - Victorians say no to drinking recycled water ...

Another day: another poll.

This time, one closer to the truth.

61.6% of Victorians surveyed say they don't want to drink recycled water - a figure surprisingly close to the Toowoomba referendum results and published scientific studies.

Can it be that the public don't really want to drink recycled water after all?

Does Premier Beattie have an uphill battle trying to convince the residents of SEQ over the next two months that we should start gulping the stuff?

Excerpt from the Herald Sun:

Sewage plans go down the drain

2 January 2007

Victorians don't want to drink recycled effluent.

That's the bold assessment from the Herald Sun Issues of 2006 survey, which found that 61.6 per cent of people did not want to have water from recycled sewage flowing from their taps.

Instead, an overwhelming majority of readers would prefer that a new dam be built to ease the state's water crisis.

Opposition to drinking recycled sewage is strongest among women and people aged 13-24.

The overall opposition to drinking recycled water mirrored almost exactly the no vote result in a public referendum held in the Queensland city of Toowoomba in August.

Despite that, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie is to forge ahead with another public poll on recycled water in 2008 for Queensland's southeast.

Survey respondent Catherine Reid, 21, of Pakenham, said the idea of drinking recycled effluent was repulsive. "No way. There's no way you'll ever persuade me to drink that," she said.

Support for building a new dam was almost 78 per cent, the survey found. In last month's state election campaign, the Bracks Government ruled out any new dams despite broad backing for the idea.

Sharyn Dugdale, 45, a cashier from Surry Hills, opposed a new dam.

"We shouldn't have to build dams. We should have the right measures in place to save our water," she said.

But Walter Newton, 64, of Marong, said more dams were needed as more people moved into the Melbourne area.

"It's something we just have to do," he said.

Water, or the lack of it, was identified by most survey respondents as the key environmental issue facing Australia today.

See - Victorians don't want to drink recycled sewage water.