Desalination
I argued that the technology was established to reliably purify
water from sewage treatment plants to such a high degree that
it would be capable of providing extremely high-quality drinking
water for Sydney. This practice has been adopted in a number
of US cities and is commonly referred to as “potable water
recycling”.
All towns and cities are physically unique in terms of geography
and historic development features. However, in the right mix
of circumstances, potable water recycling can have significant
advantages over seawater desalination.
These can include reduced operation and construction costs,
as well as much lower energy requirements, which translate to
reduced carbon emissions. Nonetheless, the suggestion that the
NSW government seriously consider potable water recycling as an
alternative to seawater desalination was not widely appreciated.
The general wisdom of the time was that Australians would not be
prepared to accept water that was once sewage as a component
of their drinking water supply. Indeed, this appeared to be
supported by a telephone survey around that time.
Since then, the New South Wales and Victorian state governments
have made statements that potable water recycling is not even an
option for consideration by cities in those states.
Political thirst for dams
It is widely recognised that most opportunities for building dams
on rivers to provide water for Australia’s large cities have been
effectively exhausted.
Nonetheless, Australian politicians appear to yearn for
opportunities to announce a new big dam project. When the
federal member for Calare, John Cobb, announced a plan to
dam the Belubula River at Needles Gap (NSW) in 2014, he
declared: “I believe this project will lift the spirits of the central
west and will inspire all of regional Australia.”
Given the prevalence of actual seawater desalination plants
around Australia and a lack of any public discussion about
potable water recycling, I suggest that this level of faith in the
capabilities of recycling plants is remarkable.
Recent research from the United States has shown that by
engaging the community and providing accurate information,
the underlying level of support for recycling can be significantly
increased.
When consumers were asked whether they agree with the
statement that “there is scope for more dams to provide additional
water supplies in the south of Australia (e.g. in the Murray-Darling
Basin and the south-east coastal areas)”, only 33% agreed. This
rose to 46% for northern Australia. So much for inspiring all of
regional Australia.
Preparing for the dry
Worldwide, countries are preparing for the significant El Niño
event underway. Evidence is rapidly building that the east coast
of Australia will again be subjected to the drought-causing
conditions that have led to major water shortages in previous
decades.
When this happens, we can expect many regional areas to
struggle in their management of dwindling water supplies. Many
will be searching for sustainable water supply solutions and some
will identify potable water recycling as the most sustainable option
for their circumstances.
The challenge for the federal and state governments will be to
support the needs of these towns and cities. They will do that best
by ensuring that all potential water supply options are on the table
and given fair consideration.
In the meantime, our politicians would serve regional Australia
best by ceasing to stigmatise potable water recycling as an option
that is not even entitled to consideration.
Water supply projects may have many diverse objectives, and
inspiring all of regional Australia may be an understandably
important one for a politician. However, many politicians appear
to carry some unshakeable assumption