Cost woes scrap Victorian recycled water scheme ...

The Australian:

Water recycling plan switched off

27 June 2009

Billions of litres of drinking water will pour through Victoria's power stations after the state government dumped plans to use recycled water.

Despite 12 years of drought and water shortages, the recycling project has been shelved in an announcement that coincided with rising water bills.

The government has also abandoned plans to divert recycled water to the Yarra River, which would have freed up more drinking supplies.

Releasing a $6 million business case report on the projects, Water Minister Tim Holding said they were too expensive.

"I don't think we could look Melbourne households in the face and tell them their water bills were going to go up hundreds of dollars for such a small increase in potable water supplies," he said yesterday. An upgrade of the Eastern Treatment Plant on Melbourne's fringe is set to be completed by 2012, treating more than 100 billion litres of waste water a year.

Victoria's Latrobe Valley uses about that amount to cool its coal-fired power stations. The government had proposed substituting 67 billion litres of that with recycled water. But the business case found the scheme would cost $3.9 billion, plus $100m a year in operating expenses.

The 60 billion litre Yarra River project was valued at $2.1bn. Mr Holding said the costs outweighed the benefits.

A contentious desalination plant is going ahead, costing at least $3.1bn and producing 150 million litres of water a year.

"When you look at them from a cost perspective, they're not in the same ballpark," Mr Holding said.

Federal opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said the decision represented environmental vandalism.

"It means billions of litres of treated sewage will continue to gush into one of Victoria's top coastlines at Gunnamatta Beach on the Mornington Peninsula," Mr Hunt said.

Melbourne water bills will soar by between 51 per cent and 64 per cent from Wednesday under price rises approved by the Essential Services Commission yesterday. The increases will add more than $300 to the average annual bill to pay for billions of dollars' worth of drought-busting water projects.

See - The Australian - Water recycling plan switched off.