No advanced water treatment processes. No advanced risk management that we would normally associate with a planned indirect potable water recycling scheme. You be the judge of which approach carries the highest risks.
I’d be grateful for your thoughts.
Recycled sewage in our water already
By Cathy Alexander
Canberra Times
3 May 2007
Canberrans are already drinking recycled sewage.
Since Tuesday, Canberra's drinking water has been pumped from the Murrumbidgee River which contains treated waste water from towns upstream.
A heated debate has erupted in recent months over a proposal to put recycled sewage into Canberra's water supply via a massive new treatment plant. Critics have said there are serious health risks associated with drinking recycled sewage.
But the ACT Government has snuck under the radar, pumping the controversial product into Canberra's kitchens and bathrooms this week.
The Murrumbidgee has not been used for Canberra's drinking water since the 1960s, and it's being used now because of the drought and the shrinking dams. Up to 75 megalitres is being taken from the Murrumbidgee each day and added to the existing water supply.
Actew confirmed last night the Murrumbidgee did contain treated waste water from upstream towns, which would include sewage. An Actew spokeswoman assured the public the water met Australian drinking water standards, and had been fully tested for any health-related problems such as E. coli.
"We only extract if it meets the requirements," she said.
She also noted the waste water would have been heavily diluted by the time it reached Canberra.
Until Tuesday, Canberra's drinking water had been taken from pristine catchments only, and is not believed to have contained any waste water at all.
Canberra has not taken drinking water from the Murrumbidgee for 40 years. But with Canberra's water storages at their lowest level as the drought worsens, Actew decided to activate its Murrumbidgee pumps on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope made the announcement in the Assembly yesterday. He warned of "grave circumstances" as Canberra's water supply dwindled, and lamented that forecasts of rain had not come true.
"Canberrans are today drinking water from the Murrumbidgee River ... that highlights the gravity of the situation," he said.
He also issued data showing that 2007 was on track to be the driest year on record for the ACT.
Meteorologists had predicted decent autumn rainfall for the ACT but the rain has not come.
Inflows into the ACT's water supply were just 11 per cent of the long-term average for the first four months of this year, Mr Stanhope said.
The long-term average for January to April is 43.5 gigalitres. This year, just 4.6 gigalitres has entered the system. Mr Stanhope said that was even worse than the horror year of 2006, Canberra's driest year on record so far. By this time last year, 6.5 gigalitres had flowed into the system. The total rainfall for last year was about 10 per cent of the long-term average.
"We hoped [2006] would never be replicated," Mr Stanhope said.
He said Canberra's dams were at 31 per cent capacity, their lowest ever level.
The Actew spokeswoman said up 75 megalitres a day could be pumped from the Murrumbidgee.
"It's the first time for the current Canberra community that we've done this," she said.
Actew prepared to pump water from the Murrumbidgee last week but the water level was so low, water could not be pumped out. Weekend rain lifted the river level enough to activate the pumps.
The Murrumbidgee water is being pumped by the Cotter pumping station to the Mt Stromlo water treatment plant, and then into Actew's supply system.
Actew is currently considering introducing Stage 4 water restrictions, which means no outdoor watering.
