SEQ - Poo water tests to ‘stay secret’ ...

Excerpt from Gold Coast Sun:

Poo-water tests to ‘stay secret’

By Brent Melville

18 June 2008

Gold Coasters will not be told about accidents or negative tests involving recycled water.

The secrecy has prompted a lobby group to claim the State Government is shielding itself against possible legal action by people who may have health problems after drinking recycled water.

Gold Coasters will be kept in the dark about any accidents or negative tests involving recycled water. A Gold Coast lobby group which is fighting plans to put recycled water into dams, says the government is shielding itself against possible legal action by people who may have health issues after drinking recycled sewerage water.

Opposition water spokesman, Ray Hopper, has accused the State Government of ‘callous disregard’ for public concerns about the safety of drinking recycled water after it voted down accountability measures in the Water Supply Bill.

He said the Bill failed to ensure recycled drinking water faced ‘strict, consistent safety tests and public reporting procedures’.

"Recycled water will be pumped into the southeast’s drinking supplies in seven months, but legislation allows and safety breaches or questionable test results to remain hidden from public knowledge," said Mr Hopper.

Citizens Against Drinking Sewage spokeswoman Dahl Cummins said liability issues were the reason the government rejected the special safety tests.

"If they can distance themselves from any legalities, then they can say they are not liable if anyone gets sick after drinking the water," she said.

Ms Cummins said the government was trying to avoid what happened in Milwaukee, US, in 1993 when 100 people died and 300,000 people became sick after drinking cryptosporidium in the water.

"The Milwaukee State Government has been sued for hundreds of millions of dollars," she said.

Mr Hopper said if people in southeast Queensland were forced to drink recycled effluent, then the Government should, at a minimum, ensure that all recycled water suppliers followed the same stringent testing and reporting procedures.

"This loose legislation simply adds weight to people’s concerns about drinking recycled water," he said.

"The Bill allows water providers to submit their own water management plan to the water regulator, however it is not known how recycled water will be tested, how frequently it will be tested, or how the results will be published."

"If tests show the water is not safe for human consumption or consistent with drinking water criteria, there is no law requiring them to inform the public."

"Safety breaches could be simply swept under the carpet."