Qld Deputy Premier starts drinking recycled water to try to calm fears ...
Bligh government clearly in damage control mode.
Excerpt from the Age:
Qld deputy premier tastes recycled water
2 November 2008
The Queensland deputy premier has toasted the opening of the state's new water sewage recycling plant by drinking four glasses of the treated water.
Paul Lucas, celebrating the completion of Stage 2A of the western corridor recycled water project on Sunday, said the water had a nice taste.
The water treatment plant at Pinkenba, northwest of Brisbane, will supply purified recycled water to power stations.
By drinking the water, Mr Lucas was trying to reassure Queenslanders that drinking recycled waste water was safe, after one of Australia's leading infectious disease experts, microbiologist Peter Collignon had expressed concerns.
Professor Collignon, from the Australian National University in Canberra, told The Australian last week that viruses could still slip through the seven-stage purification system and contaminate the water, leading to potentially fatal infections such as encephalitis and heart disease.
While the water Mr Lucas drank had only been through five of the plant's planned seven-stage purification process, Mr Lucas said it was safe and on par with the water Sydney residents currently drank.
"It will then go up to (Wivenhoe) dam for stage six, then treatment again when it comes out in a drinking supply for stage seven," Mr Lucas said.
"Early next year, after the rigorous testing program is complete and the safety of purified recycled water has been proven beyond doubt, we will be pumping from our three advanced water-treatment plants to Wivenhoe dam.
"Already we've supplied more than 8.5 billion litres of purified recycled water to the power stations, reducing demand on our precious drinking water supplies.
"We now have a total capacity of 182 megalitres a day."
Mr Lucas said the layered treatment plant was the most advanced in the world.
"It will be tested and certified for six months to meet Australian guidelines for water recycling, water supply and public health amendment regulations," he said.
Head of the state government's recycled water expert advisory panel and University of Queensland vice-chancellor Paul Greenfield labelled Prof Collignon's comments as misleading.
"At the very best they're misguided, they're not based on the evidence that has been collected on the Bundamba plant, which has been running for some time," Prof Greenfield said.
See - Qld deputy premier tastes recycled water.
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 4:33 PM
14 Comments:
But the government won't release the testing figures for Bundamba. What's the big secret? Can it be that the tests aren't showing the water to be as clean as the government says?
5:16 PM, November 02, 2008
A pig normally eats and drinks anything - remember that this is for life - for you, your families and friends - it is not a once off.
Did the kids get any water or were they too busy having their faces painted?
Looked a bit like a rent a crowd
5:31 PM, November 02, 2008
Wich expert would you believe - The one the government hired or the independant one?
I know who I would go for.
I did not think that the guidelines for drinking recycled sewage were completed but I stand to be corrected.
6:00 PM, November 02, 2008
Obviously getting worried - just like Joe Ramia - Lucas drinking for the cameras - did not see anybody else willing to have a drink
6:03 PM, November 02, 2008
Paul Lucas did not look like he was too happy swallowing that water on the TV News to-night because in fact he seemed he was spilling more than he drank.
The crowd was very thin on the ground at the open day and reminded me of the pitza parties the old Toowoomba Council tried to have and they could not draw a crowd either. They were left to suck on bottles of the Singapore recycled water and take the food back to the council works to eat instead.
Wake Up! Anna and the team - The people don't want it and you will loose an election big time if you do this mad thing.
6:10 PM, November 02, 2008
6 months of testing - hardly long term. And why not release the Bundamba test results? Maybe they highlight the type of studies and tests (or the lack of them)
6:20 PM, November 02, 2008
The criticism has begun to sting - so roll out Lucas - not Bligh - another Labor arrogant. Toowoomba residents would note with cynicism the same type of display that Joe Ramia did for the cameras in Toowoomba - was he not sick thereafter?
What the Qld Labor government is planning to do is to let south-east Queenslanders drink recyled sewage water - very similar to the faeces on the dessert that caused such a stink in a Sydney restaurant - except ours will be very diluted. For a first world country - No Thanks
6:33 PM, November 02, 2008
Gosh can you 'conspiracy theorists'just check a few things out for yourselves. Try finding the answers instead pushing the 'fear button'. I question using recycled water too but at least I check out the facts. I took my family to the opening at an advanced water treatment plant at Luggage Point today. I don't know about Bundamba and your worries but we went home with lots of answers. We took a tour and they answered every question we asked and we asked plenty. Lots of people went into the plant. A lot of of detailed answers were set up nearby. The set up was more than we expected. We went home with answers. It was worth seeing. Did you go to the opening and ask your questions?
6:34 PM, November 02, 2008
It could have been so easy - accept the plaudits for sending recyled sewage water to the power stations and saving billions of litres of drinking water - any over could have gone into the ocean or to the irrigation of crops - but no - we shall experiment on the people instead - part of the nasty social exercise/ experiment of the Labor Party
6:43 PM, November 02, 2008
Did they answer the question about the non-existent barrier 1?
8:24 PM, November 02, 2008
To comment 8 about conspiracy theorists as a good citizen I shall suggest and help organise a party of "Yes" Toowoomba voters to go to the plant - early in the New Year - I will look and also ask lots of questions but I will not drink it -thanks'
By the way what did they say to the question that if a mistake is made and "stuff" gets into the water - how do they prevent that from getting into our water supplies?
Are you happy with Queensland Heath looking after this process?
9:08 PM, November 02, 2008
Lucas looked desperate in his bid to slosh down the water - was he on a double dare? - is somebody going to look after him the next few days to see a reaction does not set in? - I thought that people just had to have a sip of this "water" not guzzle it down to try and prove a point. As for the conspiracy theorist it sounded like you were already convinced by the science - did you or any members of your family have a drink - was it tentative or not? Is this what we have to subscribe our future to? a doubtful water supply and the consumable products therefrom
9:49 PM, November 02, 2008
According to the article water won't be added to the dam until "early next year, after the rigorous testing program is complete and the safety of purified recycled water has been proven beyond doubt" - So why drink it now? I don't want a person, willing to drink this water NOW - prior to any rigorous testing - to be making health decisions for my family.
10:00 PM, November 02, 2008
How could ANYBODY be happy with Qld Health looking after recycled water? If past conduct is any example, they will cover up any problems for a few years before being forced to admit the problems with the minister saying it's someone else's fault but they're on top of it now and will fix it. Which of course they will not.
11:43 PM, November 02, 2008
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