SMH Water Plans

[westholme]

QUOTE FROM ARTICLE;
Cr Graham hopes at least four of the desalination plants will be in place before summer. They would be leased temporarily, with some estimates putting the bill at $1.3 million a year per plant.

It is not clear how they would be paid for but Cr Maher said the cost would be "significant ... I am still not keen on desalination ... I am hoping we don't need [the plants]."

The councils have not sought approval from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal to raise water charges to cover the costs. Some residents fear the plants would divert attention from cheaper and more environmentally sound options, such as tighter water restrictions and water recycling.

The secretary of the Central Coast branch of Save Our Suburbs, Bryan Ellis, said residents had lost confidence in the councils' ability to solve the crisis. "They haven't done any polling on whether people will drink recycled water," he said. "They are not looking at the real issues, not moving fast enough and not doing enough to make it easy for people to put water tanks in."

FULL STORY LINK IS HERE;
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bills-tempers-to-rise-over-water-plans/2006/07/23/1153593211108.html

[westholme]

QUOTE FROM THIS STORY ABOUT RECYCLING SYDNEY SEWERAGE THAT'S BEING DUMPED INTO THE OCEAN;

The Treasurer, Michael Costa, said the promise made a mockery of Mr Debnam's other pledge, to deliver balanced budgets.

At least one company, Services Sydney, has sought access to Sydney Water's sewage system and has a plan to build a large recycling plant near Sydney Airport. It wants to use the water for industrial purposes and for environmental flows.

A former Sydney Water managing director, Bob Wilson, was also enthusiastic about the idea, saying it was good to see someone starting to "think big" about Sydney's water supply.

But Mr Wilson said he doubted sufficient water could be used in watering parks and governments needed to think about using recycled water for drinking water.

"The trouble is the Government never takes the public seriously enough," he said. "People want recycling. You need to start with households and rainwater tanks, then the next step, which is using it for irrigation, and then it's not such a big step to using it in drinking water, once people see there's no bogies in it."

The Nature Conservation Council also welcomed Mr Debnam's commitment.

"Governments and opposition make a lot of promises in the lead-up to an election; nonetheless we welcome the Opposition's commitment," the council's director, Cate Faehrmann, said.

"The Government clearly is not doing enough on recycling and is still proceeding with a pilot desalination plant."

FULL STORY LINK IS HERE;
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/debnams-sewage-plan-labelled-fantasy/2006/07/23/1153593211111.html