Sunday Herald

Denis Gregory

12 NOV 2006 

A TREATMENT plant that recycles sewage for dom­estic water use will begin service in NSW tomorrow Port Macquarie Hast­ings Council spent $15 million on tech­nology that will eventu­ally pipe reclaimed water into new homes at Port Macquarie for use on gardens and to flush toilets.

Port Macquarie Hast­ings Mayor Rob Drew said he did not know of any other area in the state using recycled sewage for domestic and commercial use.

The plant will initially provide water for uses in plant nurseries, parks and gardens, golf courses and bowling greens.

As new residential areas are developed, the homes will have to join the reclaimed water net­work Homes will have colour-coded purple pipes and fittings, with dual taps, allowing resi­dents to use treated sewage on their gardens and in toilets

The council has already laid 13 kilo­metres of pipes for the new system.

Cr Drew said the reuse of water was necessary to reduce denmnd on drinking water. He said the quality of the recycled water would be far higher than the drinking water available in most countries.

“Depending on the proven success of the reclaimed-water treat­ment process, it could be possible for it to be approved for other dom­estic uses,” he said.

NSW Health will monitor the recycled water scheme for the first three months of oper­ation before assessing its potential for expansion.

In a referendum in July almost 62 per cent of resi­dents in the Queensland rural city of Toowoomba voted against the treat­ment of sewage for drink­ing water.

Cr Drew said that although he respected the decision of the Toowoomba com­munity, he was disap­pointed about the out­come of the vote.

However, Sydney is unlikely to follow Port Macquarie’s lead.

Planning Minister Frank Sartor has said there is no market for reclaimed water.

Research showed most Sydneysiders did not sup­port the reticulation of treated water into drink­ing water, he said.