Does Brisbane really need to drink recycled water ...

Sweep aside the political rhetoric for a moment.

Premier Beattie says SEQ is running out of water and the Anna Bligh says it won't.

Ignore statements like "you either drink or you die".

And consider how much water Brisbane requires and what non-recycled water supplies are available, particularly with the desalination plant online and the power stations using recycled water.

Is it enough?

Excerpt from the Courier Mail:

Underground water finds

7 February 2007

Brisbane will be able to source about 6 per cent of its water supplies from underground aquifers by the end of the year after council drilling found water stashed across the city.

Water from the aquifers will be added to the city's supplies by July as 30 production bores identified by council officers begin to come online.

The aquifers will be capable of supplementing Brisbane's dwindling water supply with 20 million litres of water a day by December.

At the same time, an independent report has found council's pressure management and leakage works are saving two billion litres of water a year.

Labor water chairman John Campbell said the bores would help extend the city's supply, with dam supplies now at a record low of 22 per cent.

"Brisbane Water's aquifer experts have established borefields that are now being linked by a network of pipes to localised plants, where the groundwater will be treated to a drinking standard, and then mixed with the existing drinking water supply," he said. "Aquifer water will certainly go a long way in prolonging the amount of water available for the city's residents."

See - How much water does Brisbane really have?