R.I.P. - Joern Utzen ...

Game over for anti-fluoride brigade ...

The first batch of powdered fluoride will be added to our water tomorrow, with some residents drinking it by the end of the week.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh yesterday confirmed that most southeast Queensland residents will be drinking fluoridated water by Christmas.

Northern parts of the Gold Coast will be the first to taste fluoridated water within three to four days, and it will then be added to Greater Brisbane – including Moreton, Ipswich, Logan and Redlands – on Friday, the Sunshine Coast on December 12 and the southern Gold Coast on December 15.

See - Sunday Mail - Fluoride water will be in your taps by Christmas.

Beware the church of climate alarm ...

As the Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, an economist, anti-totalitarian and climate change sceptic, prepares to take up the rotating presidency of the European Union next year, climate alarmists are doing their best to traduce him.

The New York Times opened a profile of Klaus, 67, this week with a quote from a 1980s communist secret agent's report, claiming he behaves like a "rejected genius", and asserts there is "palpable fear" he will "embarrass" the EU.

But the real fear driving climate alarmists wild is that a more rational approach to the fundamentalist religion of global warming may be in the ascendancy - whether in the parliamentary offices of the world's largest trading bloc or in the living rooms of Blacktown.

See - Sydney Morning Herald - Beware the church of climate alarm

Fetus found at Detroit Water and Sewerage wastewater treatment plant ...

Excerpt from Detroit Free Press:

Fetus found at Detroit wastewater plant

28 November 2008

Detroit Police said workers found a 3- to 4-month-old fetus at a Detroit Water and Sewerage wastewater treatment plant this afternoon.

Detroit Police spokesman James Tate said there was no indication a crime had occurred.

The fetus was discovered about 3 p.m. in the intake system at the plant in the 9300 block of Jefferson. The source of the intake could have come from any toilet or street sewer drain in Wayne County, Tate said.

See - Fetus found at wastewater plant.

Better add that to the list of things which will slip through Barrier 1 ...

Toowoomba Regional Council 2008 by-election - candidate details ...

See details of most candidates in the comments.

1. Ian James KELEHER

2. Noel Patrick CASS

3. Ven SORENSEN

4. Anne Michele ALROE

5. Bruce James ELVERY

6. Robert Bruce BERRY

7. John Joseph MCVEIGH

8. Patrick John Joseph POBAR

9. Avis Lynette HUNTER

10. Ian Robert JONES

11. Susanne Margaret ENGLART

12. Grant Stuart ORFORD

13. Graham Anthony BARRON

Global warming to hit US on Saturday ...

Gold Coast's desal plant - Anna Bligh plays politics with official opening ...

Excerpt from goldcoast.com.au

Testing time for desal's debut

29 November 2008

Unseasonal ocean swells and an electricity blackout have been blamed for the delay in the pumping of desalinated water into the Gold Coast's drinking supply.

The public will get its first taste test of desalinated water at an open day at the $1.2 billion Tugun plant tomorrow but the official opening has been put off, prompting speculation that the Bligh Government is saving it for an election campaign photo opportunity early in the new year.

Despite claiming it would be ready to be turned on in November this year and producing water at full capacity in January, the Government yesterday admitted the plant would not be operational until mid-January when it will be able to produce enough water each day for more than 700,000 people to meet the Target 170.

Deputy Premier Paul Lucas said tomorrow's Desal Day would mark the 'opening' of the Gold Coast Desalination Project at the nearby Tugun Rugby League Club's playing fields.

Premier Anna Bligh will attend the event and organisers said she would be pressing a button to kickstart seawater being sucked into the plant. She will also get the first taste of the purified water.

Although Gold Coasters who attend the community event will be able to taste desal water for the first time, it will not actually be ready to be piped offsite and mixed with water from Hinze Dam for several weeks.

"Some recent delays due to unseasonal ocean swells and an interruption to the electricity supply due to a workplace incident, mean it will be a little longer until we'll have the first desalinated water actually pumped into our drinking supplies," said Mr Lucas.

"Even so, the project team is working flat out to meet the January 15 target to have this plant producing its full capacity of 125 megalitres of water a day into our drinking supplies, enough for up to 700,000 people under Target 170.

"Commissioning and final work will now continue and we should see the first 40ML of water a day go into our drinking supplies by early January."

Mr Lucas urged locals to go along for a taste test.

"This will be a historic day for southeast Queensland with the desalination plant running and producing water," he said.

Meanwhile, the week leading up to tomorrow's open day has been a hive of activity as workers add the final touches to the exterior.

The site consists of 12 sheds, each housing a network of pipes, tanks and filters. When operational, the plant will require only 15 staff to run it each day.

The process of desalination begins at sea where a pipe draws in water. This goes through various stages of filtration at the plant, before eventually being fed into the SEQ water grid for dispersal to various reservoirs.

At the heart of the operation is the reverse osmosis shed of 1700 tubes through which water is passed under high pressure and comes out so pure that minerals have to be put back in.

Unused sea water (about 50 per cent) containing dissolved salts and minerals is returned to sea in water about 20m deep.

During construction, residents of Elanora, Currumbin and Palm Beach have had to be patient, with many fighting to have repairs made to homes damaged by the laying of the pipeline from the plant.

Some have reported cracks in ceilings, walls and driveways while a Tugun street had to be ripped up after a leak in one of the new pipes caused the surface to rise from the pressure.

Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey said Gold Coast residents had been told the plant would be officially opened this month but now it was just a 'public open day'. "It now seems the Premier wants to hold off the official opening for an election campaign photo opportunity," she said.

"The only conclusion anyone can draw is that the public open day will go ahead this Sunday, but that the official opening will be delayed for a future date to suit the Premier and, I strongly suspect, her campaign team."

She said the Government should just get on and open it.

"To their credit the people of Tugun have tolerated massive disruptions over the past two years ... dirt, dust, noise and general interruption to their daily lives," she said.

The Desal Day will be held from 11am to 3pm at the Boyd Street playing fields.

Visitors will also be able to tour the plant in a small bus to see how sea water is turned into drinking water.

See - Testing time for desal's debut.

SEQ recycled water - Water backflip to hurt French firm ...

Excerpt from the Australian:

Water backflip to hurt French firm

29 November 2008

Payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to French infrastructure giant Veolia are set to be slashed following the Bligh Government's backdown on recycled water.

The revelation came as the Queensland Water Commission refused to give a commitment yesterday to make permanent this week's decision to withhold recycled sewage and industrial effluent from southeast Queensland dams unless their average level fell below 40 per cent.

The commission would say only that it would decide "at a later stage" the circumstances in which recycled water would be turned off if dam levels rose above 40per cent after falling below that level.

Following a series of reports in The Australian, the Government this week backed down from plans to begin pumping 60 megalitres a day of recycled waste water to Brisbane's Wivenhoe Dam from next February or March, rising to 230ML later in the year.

The average dam level yesterday was 46per cent and was expected to rise further over the summer. Under the new policy, recycled water would not be added to supplies unless they fell below 40per cent.

Veolia Water has been advising the Queensland Government on the $2.5billion recycled water scheme's installations and infrastructure. The French company will be operating its three treatment plants. The company, which has an annual turnover of $70billion, will also manage a $1.2billion desalination plant being built on the Gold Coast.

The Australian reported this week that Veolia and the Queensland government-owned Western Corridor Recycled Water company were funding the $2.5million Chair of Water Recycling at the University of Queensland, which has been involved in the Government's campaign to defend the safety of recycled water.

Although recycled water will not now be added to the reservoirs, between 40ML and 80ML of recycled water a day will be used to operate the Tarong and Swanbank power stations, and 10ML a day will be available for other industrial use.

Deputy Premier Paul Lucas refused to reveal how much Veolia was being paid for its management role.

However, he said up to $1.2billion would be spent over the next decade to operate the recycled and desalinated water schemes.

Industry sources said Veolia would receive about half the operating expenses.

Keith Davies, chief executive of WaterSecure, the new government body that will manage the scheme, made it clear the operator faced a pay cut.

"Veolia water will be paid less if less water is produced," Mr Davies said.

Mr Lucas said no compensation was payable to Veolia under its contract if the production of recycled water fell below the level that was planned.

"The contract makes provisions for a wide variety of operating conditions," Mr Lucas said.

The water commission was unable to say if any of the three plants in the western corridor would be shut down as a result of this week's decision, or how much production would fall.

See - Water backflip to hurt French firm.

Victorian Government refuses to adopt potable reuse ...

The State Government says it will not force Melburnians to drink recycled waste water, despite a new report advocating the measure.

See - ABC News - Government stands by water projects.

QWC slams leaking of facts to the community ...

"It is recognised that misleading and false information, which has been reported without foundation, has impacted community confidence in this new source of water in recent weeks," it said.

See - QWC can't handle the truth.

• that it's not done all over the world

• that it hasn't been done forever
  

• that barrier 1 is a farce
  

• that industrial waste and hospital waste will be recycled

• that Singapore recycles 1% for potable reuse

• that Qld Health thinks dealing with the sewers is Brisbane City Council's problem

• that 70% of SEQ's population do not want recycled water poured into Wivenhoe dam

• that potable reuse is integral to the ultimate privatisation of water and sewage (ask anyone at Brisbane City Council)

• etc etc
  

SEQ - recycled water into Wivenhoe would not remove water restrictions ...

Figures in the QWC report show the combination of median rainfall and unfettered recycled water use would have heralded the end of restrictions briefly in March 2011.

See - Potable reuse won't solve water restrictions.

SEQ - Water recycling backflip means no respite from restrictions ...

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

Water recycling backflip means no respite from restrictions

27 November 2008

Southeast Queensland residents could be denied respite from water restrictions because of the Government's reluctance to use recycled water.

Advice from the Queensland Water Commission, released in State Parliament yesterday, warned that the chance of dam levels reaching the 60 per cent trigger at which restrictions were scheduled to be eased would be affected by the Government's decision.

The QWC also said the Government might have to fast-track new desalination plants to make up for the shortfall in water caused by the decisions.

The advice recommends that if the Government was to adopt an emergency-only policy, then the recycled water tap should be turned on when supplies drop to 40 per cent.

Infrastructure Minister Paul Lucas yesterday insisted the QWC's estimates were based on conservative rainfall figures, while any impact on restrictions and future infrastructure plans were likely to be minimal.

Mr Lucas said southeast Queensland residents had chosen tougher restrictions over recycled water.

"Everything is about choices and the community has taken the view that they would rather have a small drop in water levels," he said.

Mr Lucas also said that to push ahead with recycled water when the community wanted it only for use in emergencies would further undermine public confidence.

Figures in the QWC report show the combination of median rainfall and unfettered recycled water use would have heralded the end of restrictions briefly in March 2011.

The report also said it was important that the Government secure another desalination site because it was now the "only substantial climate-resilient source of supply available".

The QWC's next edition of the Southeast Queensland Water Strategy will be delayed until April so the commission can recalculate restrictions and the region's infrastructure needs, as the viability of other recycling options is now in doubt.

"Accordingly, the identification and preservation of the future desalination sites will become a more critical part of the revised strategy," the report said.

Mr Lucas said the Government was well ahead in its planning and was already in the process of considering desalination sites which previously had not been needed until 2028.

See - Water recycling backflip means no respite from restrictions.

SEQ recycled water - Qld coalition want water trigger data ...

A decision by the Queensland Water Commission not to release details of the trigger point that would stop recycled water being pumped into the south-east's drinking supplies has further muddied the issue for Queenslanders, the opposition says.

See - Qld coalition want water trigger data.

Rain ignites Qld vegie engine room ...

The engine room of Queensland horticulture is poised to switch to overdrive in the aftermath of an extraordinary weather event dumping unseasonal rains on the near-parched Lockyer Valley district, to the west on Brisbane on the road to Toowoomba.

See - Rain ignites Qld vegie engine room.

Fond farewells for Richard Cottee at QGC ...

See - Fond farewells for Cottee.

Deputy PM Gillard demands a role for unemployed boyfriend ...

See - Gillard's partner in no-show at first gig as men's health ambassador.

SEQ recycled water - Recycled frontflip ...

Excerpt from WIN News:

Recycled Frontflip

27 November 2008

There's an increasing chance Queensland voters will head to the polls early next year, as the government attempts to negate the election shaping issue of recycled drinking water.

Despite being asked to re-consider its stance by the Premier, the Queensland Water Commission is unmoved.

See - Recycled Frontflip.

Qld Labor's shifting views on recycled water ...

Excerpt from LNP Media Release:

Recycled Water Policy Position No. 1

Labor recycled water was never for drinking… just for industry.

24 October 2005 – Channel Nine News

REPORTER: So is this the start of a Government campaign to get us conditioned to drinking recycled water?

PETER BEATTIE: It's for industry. We're not talking about drinking it, so let's not have any concern in the community about that.

16 November 2006 – Anna Bligh, 4BC

“We are well on track to secure water supplies without recycled drinking water.” – Acting Premier Anna Bligh, 4BC, 16 November 2006

Recycled Water Policy Position No. 2

Labor said it could be for drinking… but only if a referendum gave to go ahead…

3 August 2006 – Australian Financial Review article

Mr Beattie said recycled water for drinking would be used only in an “Armageddon” scenario.

“There will be no recycled water in any dam without the full approval of the people in a referendum,” he said.

Recycled Water Policy Position No. 3

Labor said they would force recycled water on everyone… and the promised referendum would be cancelled…

28 January 2007 – Peter Beattie and Anna Bligh, Media Release

“The data the Deputy Premier (Anna Bligh) has presented to me upon my return indicates that it appears inevitable that we will have to rely on purified recycled water – it is no longer an option, we have no choice.” – Peter Beattie

“To end any uncertainty about when we use purified recycled water, it must simply be a part of our ongoing water supply strategy.” – Anna Bligh

Recycled Water Policy Position No. 4

Labor’s latest policy is to say ‘we don’t know what to think any more’…

Unable to make a decision herself, Ms Bligh announces Labor’s fourth policy position on recycled water: saying she will ask the Water Commission if its still necessary to put recycled water into drinking supplies: “I look forward to advising the House of that advice as soon as possible”. (State Parliament 25th November 2008)

How can you ever trust what they say?

LNP - Bligh’s water policy in tatters ...

LNP Media Release:

Bligh’s water policy in tatters

25 November 2008

The Beattie-Bligh Government’s water policy is in tatters after Premier Bligh announced a delay in Traveston Crossing Dam and looked to the Queensland Water Commission for an out on recycled water, the LNP said today.

LNP Leader Lawrence Springborg said Labor was scrambling to back down on their unpopular water policy in a desperate bid to win back voters.

“This is nothing more than a poll driven decision,” he said.

“The ALP and the Queensland Water Commission have been polling people on adding recycled sewage into drinking supplies and they’ve had the fright of their lives because Labor has got water planning wrong.

“The LNP has always said that recycled water should be directed to power, industry and appropriate agriculture and only placed in drinking supplies as an absolute last resort."

Mr Springborg said the Bligh Labor Government had stooped to new levels of absurd spin by trying to blame cows for damaging the Mary River and threatening wildlife, while their dam would wipe out endangered species and permanently wreck the river.

“It’s time to dump Traveston Crossing Dam once and for all and replace it with the LNP’s plan for a desalination plant at Bribie Island powered by renewable energy," he said.

“Desalination will produce fewer greenhouse emissions than the dam and will save $800 million in upfront costs.

“It’s outright hypocrisy for the Beattie-Bligh Government to criticise the LNP’s water strategy. The Premier is going to the Gold Coast this weekend to open a desalination plant and their own water strategy shows plans to build another four desalination plants over the next 40 years.”

Mr Springborg said the Beattie-Bligh Government’s water plan was falling apart and voters were angry at being forced to drink recycled sewage in light of today’s dam levels.

“The Beattie-Bligh Government gave their word that recycled water would only be added into drinking supplies in an Armageddon situation, then they promised a referendum and then they decided they would add recycled sewage to drinking supplies no matter what," he said.

“Premier Bligh is now running scared and is looking to the Queensland Water Commission to provide her with a way out of introducing recycled sewage into the dams.

“The LNP has listened to Queenslanders and we’ve listened to scientific experts. Our promise to scrap Traveston Crossing Dam and direct recycled water to industry is rock solid and we challenge the Premier to decide likewise.”

Mr Springborg said as the State Election got closer, he expected Anna Bligh would continue to look to the LNP for guidance on commonsense policy positions.

November one of wettest on record for Brisbane ...

See - Courier Mail - November one of wettest on record for Brisbane.

NWC pushes for recycled water rollout ...

See - ABC News - Water commission pushes for recycled water rollout.

Politicians suggesting people drink from the sewer will be voted out ...

See - the Chronicle - Any politician who goes to an election suggesting people drink from the sewer is going to get voted out.

QWC - Faceless people who were appointed by the Labor Party to do their bidding ...

See - ABC News - Faceless people who were appointed by the Labor Party to do their bidding.

Bligh Govt denies recycled water trigger decision embarrassing ...

See - ABC News - Govt denies recycled water trigger decision embarrassing.

Federal government report rules that Traveston dam not needed ...

The Federal Government commissioned the Australian Rivers Institute reports to help with its assessment of the project.

They found that setting a water consumption target of less than 200 litres per day per person in south-east Queensland would mean the dam was not needed.

See - ABC News - Traveston dam not needed.

Are foreign water corporations running Qld ...

Opposition Leader Springborg told Parliament that Premier Anna Bligh is not showing leadership.

"Queenslanders are justifiably asking today who runs this state?" he said.

Mr Springborg says the Government should reveal what the out-point would be to stop using recycled water.

"It's absolute confusion because at the moment the Government says no at 46 per cent but if it starts going in when it gets down to 40 it may indeed keep going in if it reaches 50 or even 60 per cent," he said.

Mr Springborg says recycled water should be used as a last resort but will not specify at what point it should be introduced.

See - ABC News - Is Veolia running the Qld government.

National Water Commission advises to look at options ...

Recycled water must remain an option for Australia's cities, despite some associated risk, the National Water Commission says.

See - The Australian - National Water Commission advises to look at options.

SEQ - Recycled water still on cards within six months ...

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

Recycled water still on cards within six months

27 November 2008

Southeast Queensland residents could be drinking recycled water within six months, following advice from the Queensland Water Commission.

The commission advised the State Government that recycled water should be added to supplies when dam levels fall to 40 per cent.

The 40 per cent trigger point is identical to the one given to the Government early last year despite the fact average household water use has fallen significantly.

Premier Anna Bligh had given strong indications that the trigger level should drop after she ditched her Government's plans for unfettered use of recycled water. Dam levels are hovering at 46 per cent and would hit 40 per cent by May without significant summer rain.

Infrastructure Minister Paul Lucas last night said the region had positive prospects of summer rain.

Mr Lucas would not speculate on when recycled water would be added.

"That's not for me, I'm not a scientist," he said.

The Government will release the QWC's advice in Parliament today while the commission will now develop a trigger point for when to switch the recycled water tap off. Mr Lucas denied the QWC had defied the Premier, saying the commission had offered independent advice and that was accepted by the Government.

"This is about understanding that the people, a number of them, have expressed concerns about purified recycled water," Mr Lucas said.

"The Government is listening to that.

"It is not in relation to the science, it is in relation to community concerns, we are listening to that. That is about being a listening government."

Earlier, Ms Bligh conceded many industries were likely to snub recycled water because it was too expensive or bad for business.

"In many cases it is simply not economic," she said.

"In other cases it depends on the nature of the industry - some of the food producing industries for example, are less likely, I think, to be people who would want to sign up."

However, Ms Bligh believed over the next 20 years more industries would be attracted to recycling.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg claimed the Government's water policy was an "utter shambles" but refused to name the level dams would have to fall to for his own emergency recycled water plan to be triggered.

"I am not even getting into trigger points because we have got that there as an absolute last resort only," he said.

Mr Springborg also said if elected he would consider scrapping the QWC because he claimed the authority had failed to act independently.

See - Recycled water still on cards within six months.

If there is one thing that the QWC is not - it's the term 'independent'.

And what is Anna Bligh smoking?

She thinks the food industries won't want recycled water but she wants to put it into Wivenhoe Dam where it will make its way into most food industries in SEQ ...

Backdowns shake Anna Bligh's leadership ...

See - the Australian - Backdowns shake Anna Bligh's leadership.

Premier Anna Bligh executes a perfect backflip ...

Excerpt from the Australian:

Premier Anna Bligh executes a perfect backflip

27 November 2008

Backflips don't come much more spectacular than this.

Two weeks ago, Anna Bligh dismissed critics of her plan to add recycled sewage and industrial effluent to southeast Queensland's drinking water supply as cranks. The Premier described arguments being put by the Opposition and others as "kooky, wacky, voodoo science".

Some of those campaigning against recycled water may indeed be cranks, but eminent microbiologists and infrastructure experts who counselled caution cannot be so easily dismissed.

Their argument was that if the water situation were dire, a case for drinking recycled water could be made.

However, if conventional sources were available, recycled water should not be an option because of the risk, however small, of contaminants passing through the seven-stage screening process, or of contamination due to human error.

Bligh embraced the kooky, wacky science because southeast Queenslanders were becoming alarmed.

Residents accepted the introduction of recycled water last year when dam levels fell to record lows. Now people see how much water can be saved by slashing consumption, and the dams are filling again. They think the good times are back.

Last week, Bligh said opponents were illogical because if recycled water were unsafe, it would be more unsafe to add it to dams at lower rather than higher levels, because it would be more concentrated.

The proposition is reasonable but misses the critics' point that it should not be added at all unless necessary.

The Premier changed tack less than a month after The Australian began publishing a series of reports on the debate. The reports sparked television and radio coverage, with talkback radio callers venting mounting concerns.

Polling by the Government showed falling public support for recycling, and with a possible election early next year, Bligh opted to bury the matter.

In doing so, she went against Queensland Water Commission chief executive John Bradley, who had insisted the scheme would proceed unless the dams were full.

Some observers are surprised that the Government linked the recycling decision to its move to defer the construction of the Traveston Dam. Bligh had previously insisted that without Traveston, the need for recycled water would be even greater.

See - Bligh backflip.

Hardly a backflip - from putting recycled water into the dams at 40% to putting recycled water in the dams at 40% ...

Toowoomba Regional Council - 13 contest by-election ...

Excerpt from Highfields Herald Online - 10-17 November 2008:

13 contest by-election

Thirteen candidates vie for the vacant position on the Toowoomba Regional Council caused by the death of Cr Ian Orford.

Electors will be required to lodge a postal vote by 6pm on Saturday, December 6.

Ballot papers will be mailed to all electors on the electoral roll in the TRC region in late November.

There is no need to apply for a postal vote.

Electors will receive the ballot paper, detailed voting instructions, a declaration envelope in which to place their ballot paper and a reply-paid envelope for posting their vote to the returning officer.

If the ballot paper is not received or is spoiled for any reason, voters can request the returning officer to provide a replacement paper.

When votes are received by the returning officer, the elector’s name will be crossed off the electoral roll and the identifier strip torn off the declaration envelope. This renders the vote anonymous, before the envelope is opened and the vote counted.

Scrutineers for each of the candidates have a right to attend all parts of the counting process.

When the poll result is declared will depend on the margin between the leading candidates.

The council’s manager governance and administration, Norm Garsden, will be the Returning Officer for the by-election following the resignation of council’s CEO, Philip Spencer.

Candidates in order of appearance on the ballot paper:

• Ian Keheler
  
• Noel Cass
  
• Ven Sorensen
  
• Michele Alroe
  
• Bruce Elvery
  
• Rob Berry
  
• John McVeigh
  
• Pat Pobar
  
• Avis Hunter
  
• Ian Jones
  
• Sue Englart
  
• Grant Orford
  
• Graham Barron.
  

See - 13 contest by-election.

Anna Bligh writes note to self - 40% trigger level for recycled water to remain ...

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

Recycled water trigger is 40% dam levels

26 November 2008

Recycled water will be added to southeast Queensland's water supply if and when the region's combined dam levels fall below 40 per cent, it has been announced.

The 40 per cent trigger point was announced after Premier Anna Bligh and deputy Paul Lucas met with water Commission CEO John Bradley today.

Southeast dam levels are currently at 46 per cent.

Ms Bligh on Tuesday announced the Government would drop its previous position of adding recycled water into southeast Queensland's dams, regardless of their capacity.

See - Anna Bligh writes to QWC who writes to Anna Bligh.

What is the impact of Gold Coast desalinated water being pumped to Wivenhoe?  How will this affect dam levels ...

GAB bores provide 50 years water for Toowoomba ...

Excerpt from WIN News:

Use Of Bores

26 November 2008

Toowoomba Regional Council has brought the first of five bores on-line from the Great Artesian Basin to supplement the City's water supply, until it's connected to the South East Water Grid early in twenty ten.

Three bores have now been drilled, with work on the fourth to commence next week.

And while the bores are being used as a stopgap measure, they'll continue to provide insurance for the city in an emergency.

The shelf life of the G.A.B. bores is estimated at up to 50 years.

See - 50 years water for Toowoomba.

SEQ recycled water - Govt urged to push on with recycled water plans ...

Excerpt from ABC News:

Govt urged to push on with recycled water plans

26 November 2008

The Queensland Government has been urged to push ahead with its recycled water policy in the state's south-east.

The Queensland Water Commission (QWC) will meet today to review plans for the introduction of recycled water to the south-east's drinking supplies.

Premier Anna Bligh has asked the QWC for new advice on the trigger for recycled water to be added to the region's dams.

Ms Bligh says that has come as a result of the delay in plans to build the Traveston Crossing Dam near Gympie.

The Government had hoped to receive Commonwealth approval to begin building the dam next year but the Premier says environmental requirements have pushed that back by two to four years.

Treated waste water is due to go into Wivenhoe Dam from early next year.

Jurg Keller, from the University of Queensland's Advanced Water Management Centre, says there will be more pressure on water supplies with the dam postponed.

He says the Government should push ahead with its recycled water policy.

"It's even more important to make sure that we save as much water as we can now because we just don't know where it's going to go in the next few years," he said.

"We won't have the water available from Traveston for at least another three to five years later than planned and that just puts more pressure on existing water supplies."

But a former Toowoomba City councillor who campaigned against adding recycled water to the city's drinking supply says the State Government cannot be trusted on the issue.

Snow Manners led the 'No' campaign when Toowoomba residents voted against recycled water in 2006.

He says the Government is backing away from the issue because there is an election due.

"Look at the messages we've had - from [former premier] Peter Beattie's Armageddon solution through to Peter Beattie's plebiscite through to Peter Beattie's cancelling the plebiscite through to Anna Bligh saying we have to do it," he said.

"Then she's saying 'it's totally safe and we'll put it into the dams unless the dams are actually flowing over' and now retreating from the idea and saying 'I'm listening to people and they don't seem to want it'."

See - Govt urged to push on with recycled water plans.

Toowoomba Regional Council by-election candidate buys google ads for rivals' names ...

Try putting any of the candidate's names into google.com.au:

• Noel Cass
  
• Ian Keleher
  
• Ven Sorensen
  
• Michele Alroe
  
• Bruce Elvery
  
• Rob Berry
  
• John McVeigh
  
• Pat Pobar
  
• Avis Hunter
  
• Ian Jones
  
• Sue Englart
  
• Grant Orford
  
• Graham Barron
  

and see who's google ad comes up.

Probably a low cost per click through ...

Toowoomba Regional Council by-election - lack of internet presence harms candidates' chances ...

Recent 4350water blog search terms:

• toowoomba council elections mcveigh
  
• john mcveigh toowoomba
  
• toowoomba council by-election nominees dec 2008
  
• avis hunter toowoomba
  
• john mcveigh for toowoomba regional council
  
• "sue englart" by election
  
• graham barron for council in toowoomba
  
• keleher ian j toowoomba election
  

Lost opportunities ...

How Anna Bligh blinked ...

See - Courier Mail - Water, water everywhere.

Great Artesian Basin used to top up Toowoomba water supply ...

Excerpt from ABC News:

Great Artesian Basin used to top up Toowoomba water supply

26 November 2008

The Darling Downs city which rejected recycled water for drinking two years ago, has started pumping from the Great Artesian Basin to top up water supplies.

Councillor Paul Antonio says last week's storms only increased Toowoomba's combined dam levels to 11.5 per cent.

He says one of five emergency bores is now online.

"One bore is being drilled and tested and is awaiting a permanent installation, the second bore has been drilled and tested and is currently being pumped using temporary equipment into the Cooby dam," he said.

"The third bore has been drilled and air tested and all of these bores have proven to have good water and to have some ability to supply."

See -Great Artesian Basin used to top up Toowoomba water supply.

SEQ recycled water - Springborg vows to abolish QWC ...

Excerpt from ABC News:

Springborg vows to abolish Water Commission

26 November 2007

Queensland Opposition leader Lawrence Springborg says the Water Commission is an "arm of the Labor Party", which he would scrap.

Premier Anna Bligh says she will accept whatever advice she gets from the Commission today on when recycled water should be added to the dams in south-east Queensland.

The Commission is meeting today to give the Premier new advice about when to add recycled water to south-east dams.

Mr Springborg says under the LNP, a minister would be responsible for water decisions.

"In recent times the Water Commission seems to basically be saying and doing what the government that's appointed it has actually said," he said.

"Proof perfect will be in the next day or so, or even today's meeting, when they come back and we'll see if they give the Premier what she's hoping for."

The Government was initially going to introduce recycled water into the state's drinking supply early next year but yesterday it announced that it would be reviewing that aim.

The Opposition has seized on the review, saying it shows the Government is poised to back down on recycled water.

See - LNP to scrap QWC.

Bligh backflips won't decide election ...

See - Brisbane Times - Dam won't decide election: expert.

Courier Mail - Anna Bligh backflips - reader comments ...

See - Anna backflips - reader comments.

Desaln8 - producing class A water ...

A new Australian invention that desalinates salty and brackish groundwater.

The "in situ" desalination technology operates in a borehole that reaches 35 metres below ground level, the top poking just above the surface. It produces class A recycled water.

Invented by Chris Barber, the technology is owned and patented by a private Melbourne company, Desaln8.

The technology has been successfully tested in Western Australia for the past six years, and EPA-endorsed trials have taken place at Glenkara. 

Management is just waiting for the EPA starter's gun to go, and they'll be off.

See - Desaln8.

Anna Bligh ditches recycled water taste test for 7-11 test ...

Excerpt from Sydney Morning Herald:

26 November 2008
...

Ms Bligh told ABC radio her reconsideration of introducing recycled water to the system in February 2009 was as a result of listening to people throughout the community.

"I talk to people in my 7/11 when I'm there shopping. I see people out on weekends, I've got friends and family," Ms Bligh said.

"I get out and about all the time, in the last few weeks I've been at public meetings about other matters where people have raised this.

"You would have to be living under a rock, I think, if you didn't know that people in southeast Queensland were talking about this - it's a hot topic."

...

See - Anna ditches taste test for 7-11 test.

Does the 7-11 test mean 7 out of 11 people she talks to say they don't want to drink recycled water ...

SEQ recycled water - Bligh defends Qld govt's sale of pipes ...

Excerpt from the daily.com.au:

Bligh defends Qld govt's sale of pipes

26 November 2008

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has defended the sale of pipes left over from the government's water grid project after the opposition claimed the sale proved taxpayer funds had been wasted.
...

See - Pipe auction.

Also see - Pipe auction details - 26 and 27 November 2008.

Bligh clarifies dam confusion, MP ejected from Parliament

Sustainability Minister Andrew McNamara says he "mis-spoke" on ABC Radio in Bundaberg this morning when he said it would take four to five years to gain Federal Government approval for the project.

...

See - ABC News - Bligh clarifies dam confusion, MP ejected from Parliament.

SEQ recycled water - QCC says more education needed ...

Excerpt from ABC News:

...
The Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) says the State Government should concentrate on educating the public about recycled water rather than delay its introduction.

...

See - More education needed.

$28 million of 'education' wasn't enough ...

Anna Bligh says she'll go full term - no-one believes her ...

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

26 November 2008

Anna Bligh has today insisted she will serve a full term as premier of Queensland after she backed away from recycled water and delayed the Traveston Dam.

Ms Bligh today told ABC Radio an election was due in September 2009 and she would complete the term.

"It is my intention to run a full term," she told the station.

Ms Bligh said the decision to use recycled water as an emergency option only came after listening to people at public meetings and shopping at her local 7-11, as well as polling results.

There had been speculation that Ms Bligh's climbdowns could trigger an early state election.

...

See - Anna says full term but voters cautious.

4350water blog denies connection to Noel Cass campaign ...

See - Noel Cass blog.

The blog colours may be the same but 4350water blog had no hand in creating the Noel Cass campaign blog nor does the 4350water blog have any connection to his campaign ...

SEQ recycled water - $2.2 billion wasted as Anna Bligh backflips on water ...

Except from Courier Mail:

$2.2 billion wasted as Anna Bligh backflips on water

26 November 2008

Up to $2.2 billion of taxpayers' money could have been wasted as the Bligh Government decided to back away from recycled water and delay the Traveston Dam.

Premier Anna Bligh on Tuesday said the Government would drop its previous position of adding recycled water into southeast Queensland's dams, regardless of their capacity.

Instead, the Government will revert to using recycled water as an option of last resort - a position that has long been advocated by the Opposition.

Ms Bligh also announced the Traveston Dam would be delayed by up to four years to ensure environmental mitigation works were completed before construction rather than after, as had been proposed.

The combined spending on the projects has been about $3 billion, with the 200km recycled water pipeline costing $2.5 billion and about $500 million spent on the proposed Traveston Dam.

With public confidence in recycled water likely to be undermined, industry could be the only users of the pipeline, which cost $1.7 billion more than a similar scheme proposed for Lockyer Valley farmers to ensure it was fit for drinking purposes.

The combined cost of having the two projects in limbo is about $2.2 billion.

Ms Bligh said she had listened to the concerns of southeast Queensland residents but insisted the recycled water pipeline was still a valuable "insurance policy".

"I think there is no shame in changing your position on something when circumstances change," she said.

Ms Bligh denied she had acted on Labor Party polling given to her late last week showing only 56 per cent of people supported recycled water.

"You would have to be living under a rock not to know that people would prefer that we think about this a lot harder," she said.

Ms Bligh and Deputy Premier Paul Lucas said the Government was expecting greater industrial use of the pipeline.

"We would expect over time that there may be more industry. We are currently in discussions with ... irrigators in the Lockyer Valley," she said.

The Queensland Water Commission board will meet today to discuss Ms Bligh's demand for urgent advice on what the dam levels should be for recycled water to be triggered, as well as the board's own polling on its popularity.

A trigger point of 40 per cent was set early last year. However that will have to be balanced against the Traveston delay and reduced water consumption.

Traveston's delay comes after repeated assurances the dam was environmentally sound.

"The dam is now dead," Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said.

$450 million spent on Traveston already

The State Government so far has committed more than $450 million to its controversial $1.7 billion Traveston Dam proposal.

Queensland Water Infrastructure, the Government-owned company in charge of the project, had spent close to $240 million by June 30 buying up land needed for the construction of the dam.

The rest has gone on preliminary dam designs and other studies including a comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

The Government's decision to postpone the project, which was originally due to be under way by April next year, followed advice from the Co-ordinator-General Colin Jensen that up to $150 million of rehabilitation work would need to be done on the Mary River near Gympie River before it could win state or federal approvals.

The decision to delay the project for "at least several years" will add potentially tens of millions of dollars to the dam's cost if if ever does proceed, thanks to still- soaring construction costs.

16km pipeline may never be used

Taxpayers are shelling out for a $2.5 billion water infrastructure project that is likely to deliver only a fraction of the purified recycled water it was designed to produce and includes a 16km pipeline that may never be used.

The Western Corridor Recycled Water Project, that part of the $9 billion water grid meant to deliver purified recycled water into Wivenhoe Dam, is all but complete.

It is ready to start pushing through up to 232 megalitres a day of recycled water.

But after Bligh's backflip, the 41 megalitres a day the project is currently delivering to the Swanbank and Tarong power stations may not increase substantially unless the Government is blessed with a surge in demand from other industry.

The already completed Bundamba Advanced Water Treatment Plant has the capacity to meet current demand without any additional water being produced by the other treatment plants being built at the mouth of the Brisbane River.

Unless the Queensland Water Commission comes back to the Government insisting that the original plan to introduce purified recycled water into the drinking supply remain, about 200km of pipeline and three advanced water treatment plants will be operating well below capacity for the foreseeable future.

This is despite a Federal Government contribution of $408 million to the project through its Smart Water Australia program.

Included in the project is a 16km, 1.2m-diameter pipe that is meant to transport purified recycled water from Lowood to Wivenhoe Dam to supplement drinking supplies.

See - $2.2 billion wasted as Anna Bligh backflips on water.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh in backflip on plans for recycled water ...

Excerpt from The Australian:

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh in backflip on plans for recycled water

26 November 2008

A collapse in community support has forced Queensland Premier Anna Bligh to backflip on plans to use recycled waste water regardless of dam levels.

"The attitudes of people have changed," Ms Bligh said yesterday.

"The growing preference of people is that if it is not needed as a permanent supply, then we should take it from other sources."

Ms Bligh admitted circumstances had changed since last year, when the Government cancelled a proposed plebiscite on the issue and announced that recycled waste water would be pumped to Brisbane's Wivenhoe Dam from early next year.

At the time, the Government said the Queensland Water Commission had advised an average storage level of 40 per cent should trigger the addition of recycled water to drinking water supplies.

The level has risen from 22 per cent to 45 per cent since then and is expected to rise further this summer if the wet conditions continue.

Ms Bligh said southeast Queensland's 2.6 million residents had also "dramatically" cut water use, from about 180 litres to 140 litres per person per day.

The Government's water grid had become a reality, with more than 400km of pipe laid, the completion of the Gold Coast desalination plant, the approval of the Wyaralong Dam and the supply of recycled water to the Tarong and Swanbank power stations.

Ms Bligh said that in the light of these changes, she had asked the water commission to provide urgent advice on whether the 40 per cent trigger still applied.

She hinted at a policy reversal last week when she backed down from her longstanding position that the recycled water scheme was necessary to secure supplies in the future, saying then that she would accept the advice of the commission.

In response, commission chief executive John Bradley insisted the scheme would be deferred only if dams were 100 per cent full and it was not possible to add further water to them.

"If it is safe when dam levels are low, then it would continue to be safe when they are high," Mr Bradley told The Australian last week.

Mr Bradley would not be drawn yesterday on whether he and the commission had been embarrassed by Ms Bligh's move.

The commission issued a brief statement announcing that a meeting of commissioners today would review its assessment of an "appropriate trigger point based on updated developments". Government sources said the commission was expected at the meeting to endorse Ms Bligh's suggestion that the trigger for recycled water be 40 per cent, a move that would postpone the scheme indefinitely.

Labor MPs said that Ms Bligh, for political reasons, had accepted the view of Australian National University microbiologist Peter Collignon and other critics of the scheme -- reported in The Australian in recent weeks -- that recycled waste water should be added to reservoirs only as a last resort.

Professor Collignon yesterday welcomed Ms Bligh's stand.

"The essential principle of putting sewage in drinking water is that it should be an option only if other options are not available," he said.

"A last resort is certainly not when dams are 100 per cent full."

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said Ms Bligh was responding to the results of polling by the water commission last week that asked residents at what dam levels should be before recycled water wasadded.

"This is just poll-driven," Mr Springborg said.

Ms Bligh said she was responding to public opinion.

"I've been listening to what people are telling me, and while they think it is a good insurance policy, they are uneasy about it."

See - Backflip Anna.

SEQ recycled water - Sniff of Queensland election damns recycling ...

Excerpt from the Australian:

Sniff of Queensland election damns recycling

26 November 2008

The Queensland Government was yesterday forced into an election-driven backdown on two fronts: recycling sewage in the state's southeast and the flooding of a valley to create a dam in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Premier Anna Bligh yesterday renewed speculation of a New Year election campaign by ordering a review of the $2.5 billion recycled sewage plan and announcing the controversial Traveston Crossing Dam would be shelved for up to four years.

Ms Bligh said the co-ordinator-general had advised that the dam site, near Gympie, had been badly degraded by decades of farming and would need mitigation work before the project was ready to go before the federal Government for approval.

...

Ms Bligh, who yesterday claimed she would go full term before calling an election late next year, conceded the reversal from her previous hardline stance to pump recycled water into the drinking supply - when the southeast corner's combined levels hit 40 per cent - had been made after Labor polling last week showed falling support on the issue.

The polling, obtained by The Australian, asked: "Do you support or oppose recycled water being added to your water system for general use, including drinking?" The results showed 56 per cent in support and 38 per cent opposed.

Ms Bligh denied the review was a political decision, saying that while there was a small majority in support of recycled water, most people only wanted it as an insurance policy if Queensland was hit with another drought. "Clearly this, I think, is something that needs people to have a broad consensus about," she told reporters.

"You would have to be living under a rock not to know that people would prefer that we think about this a bit harder."

The shift by Ms Bligh follows a series of reports by The Australian in recent months, which has highlighted concerns by experts about whether viruses and other contaminants would be blocked by the planned seven-stage screening process.

Ms Bligh said that public opinion had changed in the face of rising dam levels after they fell to 22 per cent when the recycled water plan was announced in January last year.

"As circumstances change, people's attitudes change and they expect the Government to change when necessary," she said.

The decision defies Ms Bligh's statement on November 11 when she said that the only thing that would stop recycled water was if the dams were overflowing.

Earlier yesterday, Ms Bligh told state parliament she had written to the Queensland Water Commission seeking urgent advice on whether the 40 per cent trigger for recycled water should be retained. The commission will meet today to discuss a new trigger for the combined water levels of the Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams.

But Ms Bligh said the 40 per cent trigger might remain, depending on the advice from the water commission. "I do want it to be based on a very good analysis of possible changes to the water balance and I do want it to be scientifically solid before we lock into that," she said.

See - Bligh backflip.

Why is it that independent polling consistently shows around 70:30 against but government polling shows the opposite ...

SEQ recycled water - newspaper opinion pieces ...

See - The Australian - Weather politics of Queensland Premier Anna Bligh trumps policies.

Also see - Courier Mail -Rain on Bligh's parade.

Toowoomba Regional Council 2008 by-election hits YouTube ...

See - YouTube - Noel Cass.

Anna Bligh creates yet another false poll on recycled water ...

Excerpt from the Age:

Labor Party polling last week showed a "small majority" in favour of recycled drinking water, but this did not drive the decision, Ms Bligh said.

See - Anna's fake poll.

It used to be the standard '70 per cent are in favour of drinking recycled water' that politicians would trot out.

Now that's reduced to 'a small majority'.

What Anna Bligh fails to disclose is that the sample was 'a small majority of Qld Labor party members with a gun to their head' ...

SEQ recycled water - Opposition seizes on Qld Govt water re-think ...

Excerpt from ABC News:

Opposition seizes on Qld Govt water re-think

25 November 2008

Queensland's Opposition says the State Government is starting to back away from the two controversial water issues of the Traveston Crossing Dam and recycled drinking water.

Premier Anna Bligh has announced the proposed dam will be delayed for "several years" by environmental work, to ensure it gets federal approval.

She has also asked the Water Commission for new advice on the need for recycled water in south-east Queensland's drinking supplies.

The Commission says it will meet tomorrow to discuss the request.

Opposition leader Lawrence Springborg says the Government should go all the way and scrap both plans altogether.

"Traveston Crossing Dam never stacked up from day one; environmentally, socially or economically," he said.

"Purified recycled water, otherwise known as recycled sewage and hospital waste, should never be put into drinking water supplies on a routine basis."

But Ms Bligh has told Parliament the dam will not be scrapped.

"This government has not taken one step backwards in relation to the Traveston Crossing Dam," she said.

"We are absolutely determined that this dam will go ahead. But as we have said all along it will only go ahead if it meets the environmental requirements, and that is exactly what we will do."

Anti-dam campaigners say they hope today's announcement of a delay means the Traveston dam will never proceed.

President of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group, Kevin Ingersole, says he is optimistic the dam will now be scrapped.

"The language was several years not a few years and that just pushes it so far out in the future I don't think any of us have got anything to worry about," he said.

The Greens agree that the dam should be totally scrapped, and state MP Ronan Lee says it should kill the proposal now.

"Any dollar of Queenslanders' money spent after this point is a complete waste," he said.

"It's a disgrace that we're still spending money on the Traveston Dam when we all know it doesn't stack up environmentally."

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says he is pleased the State Government will give more consideration to the environmental impact of the Traveston Dam.

"Those issues were clearly ones that had to be determined. The Premier's announcement today means that there'll be more rigorous consideration given to them and I welcome that," he said.

Former state Labor MP Cate Molloy was disendorsed by the party after speaking out against the dam in 2006.

She says she is pleased the State Government is being forced to re-evaluate its water grid.

"It's about time they started to see a little bit of environmental sense, the proposed Traveston Dam was always ever only going to be a swamp," she said.

"Now they have to go back and start looking at responsible water conservation."

See - Bligh backflip.

SEQ recycled water - Anna Bligh writes to herself for election backflip excuse ...

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

Premier Anna Bligh today gave her strongest indication yet the Government could abandon its plan to add recycled water to the state's drinking water supply.

She told State Parliament she had written to the Queenland Water Commission seeking urgent advice on whether the 40 per cent trigger for recycled water should be retained.

She said: "It is clear that people believe recycled water is a good insurance policy in the event that our dam levels plummet to low levels, but it's also clear that people are increasingly uneasy about recycled water as a constant part of our water supply system."

See- Anna Bligh writes to herself.

QWC =  just another Qld government department = Qld Labor = Anna Bligh ...

Courier Mail - reader comments on Bligh backflip ...

See - Recycled water and Traveston Dam - reader comments.

Courier Mail - Bligh aims for election on 21 February 2009 ...

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

Bligh goes to water: Traveston on backburner, back to drawing board on recycled water

25 November 2008

Premier Anna Bligh has just announced that construction of the $1.7 billion Traveston Dam will be delayed by several years due to concerns by Co-ordinator General Colin Jensen about local wildlife.

She has also backed away from her professed determination to introduced purified recycled water into south-east Queensland’s drinking supply, saying she will now seek urgent advice from the Queensland Water Commission about the planned February timetable is still appropriate.

Jensen told her the impact of the dam on flora and fauna would have to be minimised if the dam was to go ahead. Queensland Water Infrastructure, the company which will build the dam, say this condition will delay construction by several years. Bligh and Deputy Premier Paul Lucas say the Government remains committed to Traveston Cross Dam and will do everything in our power to see it built.

What chance an election on February 21?

See - Anna desperate to be elected Premier in her own right.

Bligh backflip on water recycling; Traveston dam delayed ...

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

Bligh backflip on water recycling; Traveston dam delayed

25 November 2008

The State Government's controversial water recycling plan is in doubt and the Traveston Dam project is on hold for several years in a major Bligh Government backflip.

Premier Anna Bligh today gave her strongest indication yet the Government could abandon its plan to add recycled water to the state's drinking water supply.

She told State Parliament she had written to the Queenland Water Commission seeking urgent advice on whether the 40 per cent trigger for recycled water should be retained.

She said: "It is clear that people believe recycled water is a good insurance policy in the event that our dam levels plummet to low levels, but it's also clear that people are increasingly uneasy about recycled water as a constant part of our water supply system."

Ms Bligh also revealed the controversial Traveston Dam, near Gympie, will be delayed for several years, although the government remains committed to the project.

Ms Bligh said the Co-ordinator General had recently advised her that there were concerns about destruction of habitat in the proposed dam area and measures would be needed to address this or the Federal Government would be unlikely to approve the dam.

Ms Bligh indicated that to improve the habitat, which is home to the lungfish , would take several years, delaying the construction and completion of the dam.

But she did not say the Government would abandon the dam completely.

The dam is a crucial part of southeast Queensland's future water grid which was proposed by Labor to guarantee Queensland's water security into the future.

She said the another southeast Queensland dam, Wyaralong near Beaudesert, had received Federal Government approval and work would begin next year.

It is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

See - Bligh gets ready for election.

SEQ recycled water - UQ embroiled in conflict of interest claims ...

Excerpt from the Australian:

Uni defending Queensland's recycled water plan receives funding from project's backers

25 November 2008

The university at the forefront of the Bligh Government's campaign to defend the safety of southeast Queensland's recycled waste-water scheme is receiving millions of dollars in funding from the two companies behind the project.

French water infrastructure giant Veolia and the Queensland government-owned Western Corridor Recycled Water Pty Ltd are funding staff salaries and research programs at the University of Queensland's Advanced Water Management Centre.

The companies are involved in developing the $2.5 billion western corridor scheme, under which recycled sewage and industrial waste will be pumped into drinking water storages in southeast Queensland from early next year.

Critics of the scheme say a screening process may not be sufficient to block viruses and other contaminants from entering the water supply.

The Government says an expert advisory panel is providing independent advice on the scheme and water quality.

The panel is headed by University of Queensland vice-chancellor Paul Greenfield.

Other members of the panel include Linda Blackall, who until recently was professor of microbiology at the university's water centre, and Ian Frazer, the university's Diamantina Institute for Cancer Immunology director.

Queensland Water Commission chairwoman Elizabeth Nosworthy is an adjunct professor at the university.

Veolia Water and Western Corridor Recycled Water are providing $1.7 million of the $2.5 million cost of establishing a chair in water recycling at the university. University advertising for the appointment of two post-doctoral fellows and an academic research fellow says the positions are supported by Veolia and Western Corridor.

The two companies are advertised as supporting the university's water recycling research program. University of Queensland deputy vice-chancellor David Siddle has thanked them for their "foresight in partnering" with the university.

Veolia Water has been advising the Government on the scheme's installations and infrastructure, and will be operating its treatment plants.

Queenslanders for Safe Water president Merilyn Haines said there was a clear conflict of interest between the university's role on the expert advisory committee and its receipt of money from project companies.

"Professor Greenfield and his university are supposed to be providing independent advice," she said. "The university is not in a position to provide independent advice if it has a vested financial interest in the project."

Professor Blackall said she saw no difficulty with the university providing advice while receiving money from the companies. "I can see how people might think there is a conflict of interest," said Professor Blackall, who now works at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. "I believe any conflict would be extremely minor, if it existed at all."

Advanced Water Management Centre director Jurg Keller said: "We have many industry collaborations in a range of different fields and this is one ... None of these collaborations would impact in any way on our academic independence."

Professor Greenfield could not be reached for comment.

See - UQ embroiled in conflict of interest claims.

How good soil cuts water use ...

See - Sydney Morning Herald - How good soil cuts water use.

Treated sewage gets OK from SEQ farmers ...

See - Brisbane Times - Treated sewage gets OK from SEQ farmers.

Victoria - Recycled water to tap demand ...

A tussle over recycled water is emerging between agriculture and housing in Melbourne's south-east, with State Government action required to meet booming demand.

See - The Age - Recycled water to tap demand.

Prime Minister K Rudd - 1 year on ...

It's one year since the Federal election.

The Australian population relaxes in the cool air following ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the end of global warming while rattling the extra change in their pockets from lower fuel and grocery prices as their children tap happily on their free laptops ...

Global warming hits NSW again ...

See - Snow in November.

SEQ recycled water - Bligh on track with water ...

Excerpt from Sunday Mail:

Bligh on track with water

22 November 2008

Premier Anna Bligh has moved decisively to end confusion over the addition of recycled water to supplies in southeast Queensland.

It will go ahead until we have enough water and that, according to the Queensland Water Commission, will not be until the dams are full.

Some have cautioned against using recycled sewerage-system water but the QWC is adamant it is safe.

There is no reason to believe those who have gained headlines by voicing their doubts are any better credentialled than the experts on which the QWC and, ultimately, the Government relies.

Exploiting recycled water was the right decision when our dam levels were at 16 per cent and it remains the right decision now they are 46 per cent.

This paper applauded then premier Peter Beattie when he dumped a proposed referendum and bit the bullet on recycling. It would be hypocritical to now condemn Ms Bligh for finishing the job.

Recent rains are a welcome bonus but they are not the end of the water crisis. It is a continuing problem that demands long-term planning rather than short-term panic-mongering.

Recycled water might not be the most pleasant solution but it is the only practical solution.

See - Anna wants you to drink recycled water.

Brisbane Times - Water question: recycled or restraint - reader comments ...

See - Brisbane Times - Water question: recycled or restraint - reader comments.

NASA - Glitch with urine recycler could cause Endeavour mission extension ...

NASA on Friday was trouble shooting a problem with a state-of-the-art urine reprocessor delivered to the International Space Station by the space shuttle Endeavour.

There appeared to be a problem with a centrifuge on a distillation component of the Urine Processor Assembly, flight director Courtenay McMillan said Friday.

It could simply be that a sensor was causing the system to shut off as astronauts tried to run tests on the system that will turn urine and sweat into drinkable water.

See - Glitch with urine recycler could cause Endeavour mission extension.

NASA's space water recycling system has hiccups

NASA's revolutionary new space water recycling system is having serious hiccups. The $154 million device for turning astronauts' urine and sweat into drinking water aboard the international space station shut down again Friday, and engineers on the ground were scrambling to figure out what was wrong.

See - NASA's space water recycling system has hiccups.

Oops ...

Brisbane Times - Water question: recycled or restraint ...

See - Water question: recycled or restraint?

Toowoomba Regional Council 2008 by-election - voters yawn ...

The start of this ad - the only one on YouTube so far - is just embarrassing.

See - One recycled councillor tries his luck again.

The main theme of SMS comments in the Chronicle over the past couple of weeks seems to be 'no recycled councillors'.

Two recycled councillor candidates seem to be using the Chronicle's letters to the editor to promote their views.  Either they are co-ordinating their letters or are just plain unlucky because they are consistently published next to each other - competing for attention. Noone seems to have told them that they can't both win.  Most days the lead letter is one saying don't vote for recycled councillors.

One recycled councillor candidate has taken to using the SMS column to respond to negative SMS comments.  That's just inviting more negative SMS feedback.

It's clear that most candidates don't want to spend much money on campaigning as the Chronicle is bereft of paid advertisements two weeks out from the by-election.

Maybe they are hoping the signs around the city will be enough for name recognition - poll signs are starting to pop up outside homes in Toowoomba.  Some are clearly recycled.  Others aren't surviving in the recent rain and wind.

It's all looking like one big yawn with no candidate shining out above all others.

Voters in Toowoomba may opt for someone actually living in Toowoomba but are unlikely to let any recycled councillor get back on the financial drip they long for ...

Caution - turkey slaughter ahead ...

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Anna Bligh worried - SEQ residents polled on recycled water use ...

Excerpt from the Australian:

Southeast Queensland residents polled on recycled water use

22 November 2008

The Queensland Water Commission is polling residents in the state's southeast about their attitude to the region's recycled water plan, in the latest indication that it may be ditched.

News of the polling surfaced as leading microbiologist Helen Stratton slammed what she described as the failure of governments to address concerns about the safety of recycled water by refusing to fund research.

The Government has plans to begin pumping 60 million litres of recycled sewage and industrial effluent a day to Wivenhoe Dam, Brisbane's main storage facility, early next year.

Water Commission chief executive John Bradley said on Thursday that despite heavy rains this week, which are lifting storage levels across southeast Queensland, the plan would proceed unless Wivenhoe Dam was full.

Mr Bradley admitted yesterday that the Water Commission was polling Brisbane residents about their views on recycled water.

Residents were asked on Thursday night what they believed was an acceptable level of water in the storages before recycled effluent could be added.

They were also asked to quantify levels of concern that they harboured about the safety of drinking recycled water.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said the polling was a clear indication that the Government was "incrementally" preparing to scrap the recycled water plan.

Premier Anna Bligh said the Water Commission regularly conducted surveys of attitudes on water issues, which it used to inform its public information campaigns, and its motivations should not be misinterpreted.

She acknowledged that, although she would take the Water Commission's advice on whether to use recycled water, it was ultimately the Government's decision and she was unwavering in her resolve.

Mr Bradley promised that the results of the polling would be made public when they became available next week.

Ms Bligh said she had no doubts about the safety of drinking recycled water.

See - Southeast Queensland residents polled on recycled water use.

No doubt the QWC will find 70% of people want to drink recycled water (as they do with all their polls).  

Funny how independent polling shows the opposite.

Even when Anna Bligh's Labor MPs tried to fix the 7 News poll, they could only muster 8% support, with 92% against recycled water being poured into Wivenhoe dam when dam levels are above 40% ...

Taxing madness - Toilet toll will cause people to flush less ...

"Some people may go as far as not flushing their toilet as often, as the less sewage you produce the less the rate you pay," Professor Young said.

See - Toilet tax will cause people to flush less.

Experts call for end of flushing toilets on World Toilet Day ...

See - Experts call for end of flushing toilets on World Toilet Day.

Courier Mail on recycled water - recent reader comments ...

See - Courier Mail - recycled water - reader comments.

SEQ - dam levels increase ...

Excerpt from the Australian:

21 November 2008

...

The average level of the Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams rose to 45 per cent of capacity last night, a week earlier than predicted following the heavy rain in recent days, which is expected to continue falling over the next week.

The level of the three storages was 20 per cent this time last year.

Elsewhere in the region, Hinze Dam on the Gold Coast is 95 per cent full, and Lake Baroon on the Sunshine Coast is overflowing.

...

See - Dam levels increase.

And Toowoomba:

Excerpt from WIN News:

Dam Levels

21 November 2008

On a positive note, dam levels continue to rise following the week's influential rain recordings on our region's dry guages.

Cooby received another ten millmetres overnight.

The combined capacity for all three catchments is now sitting at just over eleven percent.

And with those storms predicted for the weekend we may even see more flow into our dams.

See - Dam levels.