The Australian state of Queensland will go ahead with plans for recycled water, without holding a scheduled referendum on the issue.

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SYDNEY: The Australian state of Queensland will go ahead with a recycled drinking water scheme - without holding a scheduled referendum on the subject.

The drought currently ravaging the country has left the government with no choice but to go ahead with the scheme, said Queensland Premier Peter Beattie. He said the government had an obligation to provide people with water, and that his government would accept responsibility.

According to Beattie, Queensland's southeast - a populous region that includes Brisbane and the Gold Coast - could be supplied with treated sewage as drinking water as early as 2008.

Much of Australia is enduring what has been described as the worst drought in a thousand years (Australia's drought may stay for keeps, Cosmos Online), and most major cities already have water restrictions in place. Queensland, however, is the only state that has put a timeframe on when recycled drinking water might start being used to alleviate the shortages.

Overseas, treated wastewater is used to augment drinking supplies in Namibia, the United States and Singapore. In London, drinking water intake pipes in the Thames sit downstream of several wastewater pipes.

Residents of Toowoomba, in Queensland's southeast, aren't so keen, though. While happy to use recycled wastewater on their golf courses and lawns, in 2006 they rejected a referendum - similar to the cancelled vote - allowing the use of recycled wastewater as drinking water due to health concerns.

But according to researchers at the Australian Academy of Science, current technologies used for water purification are more than adequate to meet health standards for drinking water. The main issue, experts believe, is one of poor communication between water authorities and the public, with better education on the safety of recycled water required to help people overcome the 'yuk factor'.

Beattie insisted the water would meet safety standards and there would be no health risks involved. The rest of the world is doing this already, he said, and Queensland should follow suit. Under the proposal, residents would only be supplied with recycled water if insufficient rain reached dams.

Morris Iemma, Premier of Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), said today that despite critical shortages of drinking water, his state will not institute water recycling programs. He maintained that NSW has more water reserves than Queensland, and therefore has no need for such drastic measures.

The Australian states of Victoria and South Australia have also recently rejected proposals for using recycled water for drinking although are willing to explore using the water for non-drinking purposes.

For more on Australia and the water shortage see "Unquenchable" Cosmos, Issue 9 p66.