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Vic, NSW face shame over water waste
WATER recycling practices in
Australia's two most populous states have been branded as
"19th century" by the Australian Federal Government.
Launching an environmental "shame campaign", parliamentary secretary for the environment Greg Hunt said Victoria and NSW were by far the biggest wasters of water.
Calling their efforts "19th century practice in the 21st century", Mr Hunt said Victoria, which he claimed was wasting 350 billion litres of recyclable water each year, should aim to recycle much more of its sewage, which includes stormwater, grey water, rainwater and treated effluent.
"We can't force them because they own the resources and, constitutionally, they have the responsibility, but we can shame them into cleaning up," he said.
"So we'll continue a campaign of shame about the monumental waste of water to force them to lift their standards."
Victoria recycles 36 billion litres a year and aims to recycle 20 per cent of its sewage by 2010. It is conducting a feasibility study of further recycling programs.
But Mr Hunt said the targets were "too low and too slow".
The rest of Victoria's sewage — close to 350 billion litres a year — is treated to the second of three possible levels, then pumped into the sea. Some 150 billion litres is pumped out at Gunnamatta Beach, on the Mornington Peninsula, and nearly 200 billion litres is pumped from Werribee into Port Phillip Bay. If the water were treated to the third level, it could be recycled for industrial, agricultural and environmental use.
NSW is even worse, pumping 400 billion litres of water a year into the sea that is treated only to the first level.
Mr Hunt said the lower levels of water treatment had environmental effects and posed health risks. He said water treatment should be open to competition among private companies.
"Melbourne Water and Sydney Water are the last of the old-style Bolshevik institutions in Australia. They are standing in the way of modern water practice that much of the rest of the Australia and the world have taken up," Mr Hunt said.
A spokesman for Victorian Environment Minister John Thwaites denied Victoria was one of the worst offenders, describing the state's recycling program as "nation leading".
He said the Federal Government had contributed $1 million to Victoria's feasibility study into further recycling.
"So Greg Hunt has belatedly recognised the Victorian Government's efforts," the spokesman said.
Mr Hunt said the Queensland Government was committed to recycling 100 per cent of its waste water.
High-profile Liberal Malcolm Turnbull is also campaigning for more water to be recycled.
The Federal Government has made $1.6 billion available to the states for water infrastructure projects but Mr Hunt said Queensland was the only state that had taken up the funding program with much enthusiasm.
Have you ever wondered where Sydney's
water crisis is headed?
Can you be sure the current water restrictions and other State Government measures are enough to secure our long term water supplies?
The dams are approaching 35% capacity - less than half full.
To check the latest water levels
click
here.
The level has dropped almost ten percent in just 12 months.
This can only get worse with global warming and population growth.
The State Government thinks tighter water restrictions, stealing more water from the Shoalhaven River and desalination will be enough for Sydney's growing population. IT IS NOT.
It hasn't considered large scale water recycling.
Part of the solution to our crisis is literally on our doorstep.
Every day the equivalent of a thousand Olympic-size swimming pools full of minimally treated sewerage is dumped out to sea from the three ocean outfalls at Malabar, Bondi and North Head.
It's time to stop this waste.
It's time to invest in water recycling on a large scale.
It's time to clean up ocean pollution.
It's time to stop killing our river system.
Malcolm Turnbull, MP
Federal Member for Wentworth
