Australians already drink their own sewer water and should embrace new technology to recycle it rather than succumb to the "yuck'' factor, says an eminent water expert, according to a report in Herald Sun.
Australian Research Fellow and Professor of Urban Ecohydrology at University of Melbourne Tim Fletcher said today that up to 20 per cent of all the state capitals' drinking water could be treated sewer water that has been recaptured by the cities' reservoirs.
Prof Fletcher this week jointly released a University of Melbourne paper which aims to transform policies and attitudes towards water use as the nation braces itself for climate change in the future. It recommends the Federal Government looks at global examples of: Substitution, Regeneration, Reduction and Capture.
Read the full story at Herald Sun.
Many parts of regional Australia already recycle significantly significant proportions of their wastewater although this is used primarily for irrigation. Nearly all small towns in WA recycle 100% of their wastewater. Western Water (a water authority in Victoria) recycles between 90 to 100% of the wastewater they manage.