Drinking Recycled Sewage

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by Smoked

Not Bad Dave, fairly accurate description of what is done. Most water is clorine treated, but UV and Ozone treatment is anoher disinfection technique.

Smoked & MO, cheers ;)

UV and Ozone means were more for sewage treatment weren't they? (which is still perfectly relevant to this thread I know)

Those UV lights pack a punch! One of my projects over summer was getting a powered hoist and railing installed to raise the baffles out of a UV chamber at a WWTP, so they could be cleaned by the plant operator without OH&S issues arising. The lights in the banks were hardcore, and interestingly enough green mosquitos were thriving within there! An eel swam up the outlet from the wetlands the treated sewage discharges into, and ended up in the chamber. I'm guessing it will die of cancer lol, but it was alive & kicking when we fished it out to release back into the wetlands.

As for chlorine treatment, my project last semester for uni was looking into Neerim South's water/wastewater infrastructure and consumption/discharge trends over the next 20 years. A note of interest was that Noojee's water supply is piped from Neerim South (approx 20km away, and 100m uphill), but it takes up to a fortnight for the water to travel between the towns.

Chlorination at Neerim South would not ensure that the water is still disinfected by the time it reaches Noojee, so Hypo (Hyperchloric or Hydrochloric acid/ammonia) is used instead for this supply, which doesn't pack the same punch as chlorine, but lasts far longer. Neerim South's supply uses chlorination still. The treated water comes from the one storage basin, but is split into two supply lines, hence the two different disinfection techniques applied here.

"Why not chlorinate at a point between the towns?" you may ask. Well, it would be a security issue to have some chlorine tanks sitting in the middle of nowhere, and it would mean more chlorine enters into the system, making the water taste like you're at the local swimming pool.

[mcflux]

People who are concerned about raw sewage should visit Dutson Downs, in east Gippsland. This site collects the majority of sewage from the Latrobe area, as well as waste streams from the APM and other industries.

The pipeline becomes an open sewer 40km away from Dutson. The smell is overpowering, you want to be sick, you gasp for air, and you can *feel* and *taste* it when you breathe it in. Yes, this is sewage at its worst.

Travel on to the Dutson Downs site, and the open sewer's flow has not changed, it's still black and disgusting. This is where the magic begins however.

This flow enters a large lagoon which is approximately 5m deep. In here, it settles, with suspended solids dropping out to the bottom, and naturally occurring anaerobic bacteria (bacteria which lives in the absence of oxygen) breaks down the organic compounds in the sewage. About 90% of the organics are broken down in this lagoon. The problem is, this process is quite smelly due to the lack of oxygen, and smelly gases such as H2S (rotten egg gas) are made.

The lagoon system is set up so that the water spends approximately a fortnight in each lagoon, naturally flowing from one lagoon into the next.

So, onto lagoon number two. The still-nasty but greatly-improved sewage eventually finds its was into lagoon two, which is separated by a weir. This lagoon is much shallower, at around 1.5m deep. The colour of the water here changes to a blue colour, like a normal lake. In this lagoon, aerobic bacteria live (which live WITH oxygen), and they proceed to break down the remaining organics. Their chief byproduct is CO2, but they're not as effective as anaerobic bacteria at breaking down the organics, at a rate of 50% compared to 90%.

The water from lagoon two makes its way into lagoon three, where the anaerobic process repeats itself. Repeat for lagoons four and five. All have depths of around 1.5m, and the water spends about the same amount of time in each lagoon.

If you stand on a hilltop which overlooks the lagoons, you can see that the water surface gets progressively choppier from lagoon to lagoon. This is due to the water becoming purer, and its surface tension drops. A choppy surface indicates the surface constantly breaking. As a comparison, think of how oil is slick on its surface.

The water in lagoon five has taken 90 days to travel from the raw sewage point at the start of lagoon one. The lagoons were designed in size and layout based upon the inflowing sewage continually pushing the water through this system. The water here is brackish, and is ready to be released to the ocean as treated sewage. Wildlife (grasses, birdlife, turtles, fish) occur naturally at progressing rates through the aerobic lagoons (2 to 5). And no, they're not mutants either.

Now remember how I said "this is where the magic begins" (at the start of the system)... Well, the three ingredients used here were time, sunlight, and naturally occurring bacteria in the water. Nothing man-made, no chemicals, no artificial sterilisation techniques. All natural. In fact, the system was designed so that it synthesises what happens in nature.

Why do rivers and lakes stay clean? (in natural circumstances, let's ignore industrial or agricultural runoff, etc) Why don't they eventually fill up with crud and die? It's due to the same processes and bacteria as described above.

Another note I should make before finishing this post is that the salt content of the sewage entering the Dutson Downs system is greatly elevated due to the mixed liquors which the APM discharges into the sewer. Once the Gippsland Water Factory is up & running, it will deal with the APM's discharge, instead of it flowing to Dutson. So even greater improvements can be made at Dutson in the future. For example, the water from lagoon 5 could be used for extended irrigation purposes (it could be used for short intervals currently, but due to its mild salt content the salt buildup would be detrimental in the long term), instead of simply discharging to the ocean.

The discharge point, off Delray Beach, was recently surveyed to determine how it impacted on the marine life there. A reef is actually establishing itself around the discharge point and the range of fish and crustacean life there is diverse.

Food for thought peoples.

[AUIII]

I voted yes, as the mayor of toowoomba said our water has always been downstream from some pollutant like cow poo from farms ect.

I heard on the radio on Friday that only thing that can not be removed from recycled water is women’s hormones which could increase male infertility.

Does any one know if this true and what levels of recycled water being added to waterways would cause this to happen.

Cheers

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by AUIII

I heard on the radio on Friday that only thing that can not be removed from recycled water is women’s hormones which could increase male infertility.

: x 10^99

What a load of crap! (original reply)

EDIT: Google produced some interesting results. I'm currently reading through this http://pubs.acs.org/journals/esthag/.../es011055j.pdf

So I think I'll withold saying "What a load of crap!" for now.

EDIT #2: After reading the article, one would need to access the following references cited:

For hormones in water: 1, 2, 7, 10, 46, 47, 48, 51
For hormones/pharmaceuticals surviging treatment/biodegradation: 1, 6, 58, 59

I for one CBF checking those out :P

I did find this link however:

http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/piperma...st/000183.html and it states that synthetic oestrogen in the water is 1000x stronger than naturally-occurring oestrogen, and survives for up to 90 days. If this is the case, water treated at Dutson Downs would have its oestrogen content effectively removed due to the process there lasting approximately 90 days.

And this link:

http://waterindustry.org/Water-Facts/hormones.htm

NCC executive officer Kathryn Ridge warned if STPs (sewer treatment plants) failed to identify and treat EDCs they would pass directly into the environment.

"The main characteristic of these compounds and chemicals is that they do not break down or dissolve once they enter a waterway," she said.

"Rather, they accumulate and if fish or birds consume them they will enter a food chain that includes humans.

"Our report has confirmed that no STPs in NSW are even looking for, let alone treating, these chemicals and compounds, and this will simply have to change if we are to avert an on-going ecological catastrophe.

"Even though there is no evidence that humans have ever been affected by EDCs ("gender-benders") in sewage, we do know that these compounds can alter human gender characteristics and fertility when consumed medically.

"These compounds have been proven to alter the gender characteristics of wildlife when they pass through sewage treatment plants."

So it sounds like three things need to be sorted out:

1) screening to be implemented for detection of hormones at WWTPs

This sounds like a must-do, no questions asked.

2) installing infrastructure to allow for breakdown of hormones in water over 90 day period

This would be technologically possible now, however issues which arise include the $$$ cost of a storage system, and the storage space required to deal with this.

3) developing on-site treatment to cut down the 90 day span, hence remove need for storage facility

This seems to be out of our grasp at this point in time, but I'm sure some boffin will come up with a process, natural (or synthesising nature) or otherwise, which can deal with this.

[fordfuntastic]

Now how can you explain this: "Im ****ed" was it the **** or was it the booze officer?

[fordfuntastic]

Now how can you explain this: "Im ****ed" was it the "****ss" hicupp or was it the booze officer?

[MO]

Female hormones are NOT a problem they are filtered out.

fordfuntastic...what are you on this is a really sensible discussion don't ruin it with your puerile drivel.

Back to the hormones have been on them for about 5yrs now and I'm still masculine.

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by MO

Female hormones are NOT a problem they are filtered out.

Really? That's quite interesting. All of this hormone info is news to me anyway.

How is it filtered out? I couldn't find too much when googling. Might google some more...

[Smoke Pursuit]

We wont have to worry about it as nearly 70% of toowoomba said no today, well thats where they are at with the polls.

Im glad, things are tough with water but there are OTHER solutions...

[MO]

As far as I'm aware the hormones only have a limited time of life expectancy...from what I understand it is all to do with exposure to sunlight.

I'm not too fussed to research just going off of medical advice but I believe that the sunlight factor would do it.

As an example I used to be a groundsmen for a dog club..the hydration of the grounds was from secondary waste/sewrage water IF anyone was going to be affected by female hormones it was me...the fact that the water passed through sunlight when being applied killed off the majority of the nasties.
And I worked with this stuff for 10yrs.

And have never had nor had anyone else a problem with the process.

[GK]

Voted yes.

Tertiary treated, all will be fine. As many have said, better than the water coming out of the tap now! Certainly much better than a rural town's reservoir I would think.

Should make water cheaper too, I would hope! Not holding my breath though!

GK

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by GK

Voted yes.

Tertiary treated, all will be fine. As many have said, better than the water coming out of the tap now! Certainly much better than a rural town's reservoir I would think.

Should make water cheaper too, I would hope! Not holding my breath though!

GK

I doubt waters going to get cheaper any day soon.

I voted NO and will stand with the NO notion, unless its industrial specific use only, the amount of water wasted by industrial organisations in manufacturing etc is huge, somehow they need to be getting the ****ty water while houses etc get the good water, this would obviously mean there would need to be some other pipeline to supply these organisations, it would cost alot of money but its not impossible.

If Toowoomba was to introduced recycled water the land / house prices there would drop by 30 - 40% overnight, regardless of what the politicians say and the facts about it being not so bad, the thought of sewage water being recycled will certainly upset alot of people, the ohter problem is the fact that im told it will take till 2013 before any systems will be fully functional, at this rate the township will already be out of water, its too late. Time to bring some other ideas to the table, like subsidising the cost of water tanks atleast 50% and educating people how to save water properly. The councils were the assholes who told everyone to pull them out in the first place, go back 30 - 40 years and id have a guess that a large number of the population were self sufficient with water...

I have grown up on a farm for a large percentage of my life, tank water was all we had plus when it got really dry we would have to pump bore water to the house, as for external items like washing machines, washing cars etc we used bore water all the time for these items...

[MO]

Unfortunately...I think the Luddites in Toowoomba will win....sad really.

[MO]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

I doubt waters going to get cheaper any day soon.

I voted NO and will stand with the NO notion, unless its industrial specific use only, the amount of water wasted by industrial organisations in manufacturing etc is huge, somehow they need to be getting the ****ty water while houses etc get the good water, this would obviously mean there would need to be some other pipeline to supply these organisations, it would cost alot of money but its not impossible.

If Toowoomba was to introduced recycled water the land / house prices there would drop by 30 - 40% overnight, regardless of what the politicians say and the facts about it being not so bad, the thought of sewage water being recycled will certainly upset alot of people, the ohter problem is the fact that im told it will take till 2013 before any systems will be fully functional, at this rate the township will already be out of water, its too late. Time to bring some other ideas to the table, like subsidising the cost of water tanks atleast 50% and educating people how to save water properly. The councils were the assholes who told everyone to pull them out in the first place, go back 30 - 40 years and id have a guess that a large number of the population were self sufficient with water...

I have grown up on a farm for a large percentage of my life, tank water was all we had plus when it got really dry we would have to pump bore water to the house, as for external items like washing machines, washing cars etc we used bore water all the time for these items...

If ever there was a Luddite you would qualify...so many places around the world have been drinking/using recycled water for to long to remember....it works you fool!!!!!!!!

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by MO

If ever there was a Luddite you would qualify...so many places around the world have been drinking/using recycled water for to long to remember....it works you fool!!!!!!!!

Yes yes im a fool along with 70% of Toowoomba! Grow up, everyones allowed an opinion! As for being a Luddite, opposing second class shi#$$t water really doesn't equal that.

Its sad how the politicians cannot give a definate answer on the safety of using recycled water. One side says its great, 100% pure, the other side say its crap and theres going to be consequences of using it. If we actually got a definate answer from the people trying to run the state on the outcomes if they were to introduce such recycling then im sure alot more of us would agree, but sadly no one seems to be able to give any definate answers.

Peter Beatie hates the idea himself, hes already stated that today... Theres also the factor that its 7 - 8 years before it would actually be in use, by then we will be a desert, we need something implemented sooner.

[MO]

NO what Beattie said more closely resembles....Toowoomba has started the debate....it will continue.....remember Beattie is hedging his bets.

The Beattie govt' will favour recycling in the end because it is cheaper and easier.

The truth of the whole debate can be sourced from OS where it has been in use for many years.
The problem with Toowoomba is a former Mayor who thinks he knows it all!!!!!!!!!

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by MO

As far as I'm aware the hormones only have a limited time of life expectancy...from what I understand it is all to do with exposure to sunlight.

I'm not too fussed to research just going off of medical advice but I believe that the sunlight factor would do it.

As an example I used to be a groundsmen for a dog club..the hydration of the grounds was from secondary waste/sewrage water IF anyone was going to be affected by female hormones it was me...the fact that the water passed through sunlight when being applied killed off the majority of the nasties.
And I worked with this stuff for 10yrs.

And have never had nor had anyone else a problem with the process.

So based upon this, UV treatment sounds like the go to sort out hormones in the water.

LSTerritoryGhia: So what will Toowoomba do now, after voting no to a viable option? Has an alternative solution been proposed?

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Ghia5L

So based upon this, UV treatment sounds like the go to sort out hormones in the water.

LSTerritoryGhia: So what will Toowoomba do now, after voting no to a viable option? Has an alternative solution been proposed?

Toowoomba will have to look at possibly getting water from somewhere else along with further pushing the installation of rainwater tanks... I would imagine this will intially be something that will have to be done in all the industrial estates around the city to try and cap industrial use of water.

Its up to the Mayor to look for better avenues, the possibily of building another damn out that way is more then likely though at this stage I believe. The biggest issue with the recycling for ALOT of people is the time frame, they are talking 7 years, Toowoomba does not HAVE 7 years to wait, not to mention the fact they need to have a decent supply to feed the recycled water into, you cant just feed recycled water into a dry dam, it needs to be flushed through rain water to further the purifying process I believe, therefore based on the timeframe given it is not even remotely a decent solution for the downs or Brisbane, otherwise they will be pumping mud before they know it, in otherwords what im trying to say is its TOO late for this process!

[mcflux]

Where's the nearest water supply that Toowoomba can tap into?

Another dam? And how about the environmental impacts caused upstream and downstream of the dam site? Flooding of upstream and loss of flow downstream, not to mention possible eutrophication (loss of oxygen in deeper water) and stratification (temperature drop in deeper water) of water in the dam itself, and in the water released downstream, having potentially immense impacts on the ecosystem both sides of the dam wall. Then you've got encroachment of the banks downstream, choking/silting up the river.

So the recycled water proposal had a 7 year wait... Why not implement immediate short-term fixes as mentioned (rain tanks, cartage, further water restrictions if possible), whilst the recycled scheme gets up & running.

Why would a dry dam need flushing when the treated water is introduced to it? The treated water *is* purified, to a better extent than rainwater which could contain contaminants. Acid rain... dust in rain (dirty car after it's rained)... pollen... etc etc

Pumping mud? What do you mean by this?

Finally, why was it left until now to act upon finding solutions to the growing crisis? Toowoomba baffles me.

[EB Pete]

Originally Posted by Ghia5L

Where's the nearest water supply that Toowoomba can tap into?

Another dam? And how about the environmental impacts caused upstream and downstream of the dam site? Flooding of upstream and loss of flow downstream, not to mention possible eutrophication and stratification of water in the dam itself, and in the water released downstream, having potentially immense impacts on the ecosystem both sides of the dam wall. Then you've got encroachment of the banks downstream, choking/silting up the river.

So the recycled water proposal had a 7 year wait... Why not implement immediate short-term fixes as mentioned (rain tanks, cartage, further water restrictions if possible), whilst the recycled scheme gets up & running.

Why would a dry dam need flushing when the treated water is introduced to it? The treated water *is* purified, to a better extent than rainwater which could contain contaminants. Acid rain... dust in rain (dirty car after it's rained)... pollen... etc etc

Pumping mud? What do you mean by this?

Finally, why was it left until now to act upon finding solutions to the growing crisis? Toowoomba baffles me.

well i work at the toowoomba city council and they have a few back up plans.

1. 49km pipeline from brisbane's main dam
2. steal water of the rural towns witch get there water from the artesian basin (i think)
3. give a $500 rebate on tanks (yeh)
4. water from gas extraction
5. let peter beattie's water grid look after them, yet in the meantime absolutely kill the murry darling water system.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Ghia5L

Where's the nearest water supply that Toowoomba can tap into?

Another dam? And how about the environmental impacts caused upstream and downstream of the dam site? Flooding of upstream and loss of flow downstream, not to mention possible eutrophication and stratification of water in the dam itself, and in the water released downstream, having potentially immense impacts on the ecosystem both sides of the dam wall. Then you've got encroachment of the banks downstream, choking/silting up the river.

So the recycled water proposal had a 7 year wait... Why not implement immediate short-term fixes as mentioned (rain tanks, cartage, further water restrictions if possible), whilst the recycled scheme gets up & running.

Why would a dry dam need flushing when the treated water is introduced to it? The treated water *is* purified, to a better extent than rainwater which could contain contaminants. Acid rain... dust in rain (dirty car after it's rained)... pollen... etc etc

Pumping mud? What do you mean by this?

Finally, why was it left until now to act upon finding solutions to the growing crisis? Toowoomba baffles me.

The damn would not need flushing, what i was trying to say that in the course of a 7 year wait, toowoomba would more then likely have a very LOW water level or have runout by then. I think the whole process actually includes the recycled water being mixed with the damn water before it is 100% pure, therefore if there was no dam water left the recycled water would be the only supply, which could have remifications if it was not to be filtered through dam water.

If Toowoomba has to wait 7 years for this then I have a feeling it will certainly rundry beforehand. I believe Warwick which is 70 kms south of Toowoomba is now down to 9%. So my proposal therefore is that rather then spending the millions of dollars developing something which may not work (time frame basis), the Toowoomba council and others NEED to look at other options, whether that be the use of Sea Water, Building of more damn (poor time factors associated with this especially if we get no rains) or trying to make houses / businesses more reliant on their own sources. The Hinze damn which is towards the gold coast is at 92%, why that cannot be pumped back to brisbanes main supply I dont know. If I was in control i would have all the damns we currently have close by one another linked up, and all of them sharing water on a percentage basis, if one had 92%, then it should share water with the lesser ones so they are all equal based on their size and percentage, its obvious that the hinze dam is in a better catchment area which should be used to advantage the others.

As for the pumping mud comment, thats what happens when you main water supply drys up, all that comes out the other end is mud. :

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by EB Pete

well i work at the toowoomba city council and they have a few back up plans.

1. 49km pipeline from brisbane's main dam
2. steal water of the rural towns witch get there water from the artesian basin (i think)
3. give a $500 rebate on tanks (yeh)
4. water from gas extraction
5. let peter beattie's water grid look after them, yet in the meantime absolutely kill the murry darling water system.

1) How's Brisbane's water supply going? Will it be able to adequately cope with this? Sounds like a decent alternative if it doesn't stuff Brisbane up.
2) Sounds like a joke
3) lol sounds pricey!
4) Sounds interesting... What is the process? Is it from actual gas fields, or pumping CO2/other gases into the ground to extract water that's not under pressure (unlike the bore water)
5) lol, biggest joke of all :

[Smoke Pursuit]

1) Brisbanes water supply is at 30%, as i say we need to tap into Hinze damn which is probarly 70 Kms away from ours which is at 92%, then cross flow to the point where both dams are equal, its only fair.
2) Toowoomba could get their own water from the Artesian basin, the only problem is it wont last forever either.
3) Pricey maybe, but if any of the states had half an idea they would actually manufacturer the tanks themselves, in jails, the cost of labour would obviously be nothing, finally they would actually work to be fed *which is fair enough when you consider jail birds cost 50 - 70 k a year each to feed.
4) Stuffs me.
5) Spoton, Peter Beattie couldnt organise a root in a brothel, therefore its best they bring on their own solutions, thats ofcourse if they want to actually have a town in 5 years time, not to mention thats what these people are paid to do.

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

The damn would not need flushing, what i was trying to say that in the course of a 7 year wait, toowoomba would more then likely have a very LOW water level or have runout by then. I think the whole process actually includes the recycled water being mixed with the damn water before it is 100% pure, therefore if there was no dam water left the recycled water would be the only supply, which could have remifications if it was not to be filtered through dam water.

If Toowoomba has to wait 7 years for this then I have a feeling it will certainly rundry beforehand. I believe Warwick which is 70 kms south of Toowoomba is now down to 9%. So my proposal therefore is that rather then spending the millions of dollars developing something which may not work (time frame basis), the Toowoomba council and others NEED to look at other options, whether that be the use of Sea Water, Building of more damn (poor time factors associated with this especially if we get no rains) or trying to make houses / businesses more reliant on their own sources. The Hinze damn which is towards the gold coast is at 92%, why that cannot be pumped back to brisbanes main supply I dont know. If I was in control i would have all the damns we currently have close by one another linked up, and all of them sharing water on a percentage basis, if one had 92%, then it should share water with the lesser ones so they are all equal based on their size and percentage, its obvious that the hinze dam is in a better catchment area which should be used to advantage the others.

As for the pumping mud comment, thats what happens when you main water supply drys up, all that comes out the other end is mud. :

Mixing recycled water with dam water = 100% pure? I take it you're stating that the treated recycled water isn't pure. And if that's the case, mixing it with dam water would merely dilute.

When the water is recycled it is pure, clean, tasteless, odourless, and is the same as pure fresh water. If you had a glass of both you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If you lived off recycled water, you wouldn't tell the difference.

Building another dam "may not work" (based upon your mentioning of possible lack of rainfall), so that doesn't place this alternative ahead of the recycling notion.

Linking the Hinze dam sounds like a good possible "global" alternative solution for that whole region. How large is it (capacity)?

"Pumping mud" is embarrassingly obvious to me now lol

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Peter Beattie couldnt organise a root in a brothel

lol, I guess his surname sums it up nicely

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Ghia5L

Mixing recycled water with dam water = 100% pure? I take it you're stating that the treated recycled water isn't pure. And if that's the case, mixing it with dam water would merely dilute.

When the water is recycled it is pure, clean, tasteless, odourless, and is the same as pure fresh water. If you had a glass of both you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If you lived off recycled water, you wouldn't tell the difference.

Building another dam "may not work" (based upon your mentioning of possible lack of rainfall), so that doesn't place this alternative ahead of the recycling notion.

Linking the Hinze dam sounds like a good possible "global" alternative solution for that whole region. How large is it (capacity)?

"Pumping mud" is embarrassingly obvious to me now lol

Hinze Dam Capacity - 161,000 Million Litres while the main supply to brisbane Wivenhoe has 1.16 million megalitres... Therefore it wouldnt do alot joining them together... That seems to simple neways :

[normxb]

Guys
This would have to be the most interesting/informative thread on the site .

I live in a small country town (with no water restrictions at the moment because of sensible usage by residents) and even though our treatment works are not "state of the art" the outlet is clean enough to be piped to the local orchards & Golf club , leaving the town water for the residents . I think this has been done with further treatment for "human consumption" in mind . (very forward thinking of the council).

Also , our town is in a hilly area with a creek through the middle and quite a number of the houses in the lower areas have bores to water lawns & gardens etc. The house across the road has a bore & the owner only had to go down 40ft and can't empty it , even in this drought.

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Hinze Dam Capacity - 161,000 Million Litres while the main supply to brisbane Wivenhoe has 1.16 million megalitres... Therefore it wouldnt do alot joining them together... That seems to simple neways :

I was concerned that would be the case :( Scratch that option then!

Toowoomba will always have a supply of water, it just depends where from and how much ($$$). The town can always fall back on cartage as a last-resort measure, but I'd hate to think of how much that would cost!

NormXB: sounds like your town's got it all under control ;) Where abouts are you mate?

[jim1606]

i said no, but thinking about it in the midlands (where i live) we have hard water apparently thats bad or summin so i suppose i wouldnt mind, but only if i didnt know.

[Smoked]

Pump from the GAB, I dont bloody thinkso.

GAB starts in Qld and is already showing signs of high drawdown and radii of influence. Sourcing water from there would only further increase the impact of these problems and potentially cause high salinity, which is really really bad (read Murry Darling)