South East Queensland is currently experiencing the worst drought
it's had in over 100 years. Although we have saved water through
adherence to various water restrictions introduced in May 2005, the
water crisis is far from over.
Water Restrictions Update:
Well, it's finally happening, Level six water restrictions
will come into force on Friday 23 November 2007.
So that we don't rely solely on rainfall
and our dams, initiatives by the Brisbane City Council and Queensland
State Government include building a desalination plant at the Gold
Coast, supplying recycled water to industry, and building more dams and
reservoirs.
The Home WaterWise Rebate Scheme
and
the Home Garden WaterWise Rebate Scheme are Queensland Government's
incentive packages designed to assist
Queensland householders make their homes and gardens more water
efficient, offering householders cash rebates for the purchase of
products, such as rainwater tanks, shower heads, pool covers,
dual-flush toilets and more. Another option the government seems to be interested in pursuing is the use of recycled water in our supply systems.
Purified Recycled Water is one of the considerations of the
Queensland Government to help solve our current water crisis. Purified
Recycled Water has been used to top up drinking water supplies in the
UK, Singapore and USA for the past 40 years or more with relative
success.
So what is it? According to the Queensland Government, purified
recycled water is wastewater that has been highly treated to remove
impurities to attain drinking standard.
How does it work? Purified recycled water goes through
filtration processes to remove pollutants from the water. The first
step is to reduce nutrients and organic matter in wastewater (99.9%of
which is just water) by screening the water. The water is then treated
though filtration processes, reverse osmosis, and advanced oxidation.
Once these steps are completed the purified water would be released
into dams to blend with the water in the dams. Once this blended water
leaves the dams, nature does its work with sunlight and the flowing
over rocks in the river help clean the water even more. Then, as with
all our current drinking water, further treatment takes place to reach
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and World Health Organisation
drinking water standards.
If you think about it, all water is recycled, coming from rain, rivers,
the ocean and even underground. That is, no new water is ever created,
it simply moves through the atmosphere and the environment in a
continual cycle. Whilst there has been and continues to be controversy
over the use of recycled water in our homes, some insist that purified
recycled water is in fact cleaner than water that comes directly from
our dams.
For the latest on the use of recycled water in Brisbane and Queensland, click here.
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