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October 20, 2004
a note on water
Despite making a shift to accessing water from a reverse osmosis desalinisation plant that need not be driven by coal-fired power, the NSW's State Government's Metropolitan Water Plan is shortsighted.
Moir
It is a forlorn hope because it rains more in Sydney than in the dams' water catchment.
The editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald asks the right question:
"The State Government's Metropolitan Water Plan - like the rain sweeping Sydney - is welcome. And like the rain, it's not enough. The plan's emphasis falls too heavily on accessing more water and not enough on better using the water we have. How can a government hope to persuade the people to value water when "the plan" is to go on dumping most waste water and stormwater in the sea?"
How can a state government that says it is committed to a sustainable city when it goes on dumping most waste water and stormwater in the sea?
The argument against recycling is an economic one. It is too expensive to send recycled water back into the supply system and so reduce Sydney's ecological footprint. Less than 2% of total water used in Sydney is recycled and 1999 effluent recycling targets have been abandoned.
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at October 20, 2004 08:19 AM
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