Water Recycling – a safe, sustainable and sensible practice

Australia has been recycling water for decades, and in each state and territory successful water recycling projects have been in place for many years.

Recycling water means less wastewater is discharged into the ocean and rivers or allowed to evaporate and helps lessen demand on precious drinking water supplies.

New South Wales – Sydney Water
Sydney Water recycles 30 million litres of wastewater every day, and by 2010 this figure is expected to increase to 83 million litres per day.

Sydney Water runs several recycling projects, including one where housing estates can use recycled water in the household (for toilet flushing) and in the garden.

Recycled water is also used in irrigation projects and state of the art treatment plants have been developed so treated wastewater can be reused in industrial projects such as cooling systems.

Western Australia - Water Corporation
Water recycling in WA began in the 1950s and since then over 80 schemes have got underway in this State, with around 40 recycling schemes run in regional WA.

The McGillivray Oval Irrigation Project is a two year recycling demonstration using treated wastewater on the University of Western Australia’s sporting fields. The project will use up to two million litres of treated wastewater a day for six to nine months of the year.

Victoria – Melbourne Water
The Werribee Irrigation District Water Scheme is Melbourne’s largest commercial recycled water project and aims to provide a sustainable future for Werribee vegetable growers and the surrounding environment.

The project provides 10,600 million litres of Class A recycled water a year to over 100 farmers in that Werribee area. This water would otherwise been discharged into Port Phillip Bay.

Northern Territory – Power and Water Corporation
The Power and Water Corporation has recycled water for 20 years in Darwin and Alice Springs. In Darwin the Marrara sporting complex ovals and golf course are irrigated by recycled water, and in Alice Springs Blatherskite Park uses recycled water to water its ovals.

These water recycling efforts have been a great success and will be extended through the ‘Water Reuse in the Alice’ project.