WATER RECYCLING IN AUSTRALIA A review undertaken by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering 2004 Water Recycling in Australia © Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering ISBN 1875618 80 5. This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction rights should be directed to the publisher. Publisher: Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Ian McLennan House 197 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (PO Box 355, Parkville Victoria 3052) ph: +61 3 9347 0622 fax: +61 3 9347 8237 www.atse.org.au This report is also available as a PDF document on the website of ATSE, www.atse.org.au Authorship: The Study Director and author of this report was Dr John C Radcliffe AM FTSE Production: BPA Print Group, 11 Evans Street Burwood, Victoria 3125 Cover: - Integrated water cycle management of water in the home, encompassing reticulated drinking water from local catchment, harvested rainwater from the roof, effluent treated for recycling back to the home for non-drinking water purposes and environmentally sensitive stormwater management. – Illustration courtesy of Gold Coast Water FOREWORD The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering is one of the four national learned academies. Membership is by nomination and its Fellows have achieved distinction in their fields. The Academy provides a forum for study and discussion, explores policy issues relating to advancing technologies, formulates comment and advice to government and to the community on technological and engineering matters, and encourages research, education and the pursuit of excellence. The drought from 2001 to 2003 focussed the thinking of much of the Australian community towards our dependence on the nation’s limited water resources. In consequence, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering sought and received funding from the Australian Research Council to gather and analyse information and to prepare this report, Water Recycling in Australia The report outlines the current extent of water recycling in Australia, encompassing rainwater and stormwater, but with the main emphasis on the extent of treatment and recycling of domestic and industrial wastewater. It discusses a range of issues arising from both international and Australian experience. Suggestions and recommendations are made for the future management and use of recycled water. Australian’s land management has progressively been adapting to our environment as our understanding of it increases and we recognise the need to better manage our natural resources and what we take from and return to them. In the early 1990s, the Australian states began to develop their own environment protection agencies / authorities and to establish policies on, monitor and licence waste management including wastewater discharges from sewage treatment plants. This interest has intensified in the first years of the new millennium. Most rain in Australia soaks into the ground. Little more than one-tenth of Australia’s rainfall runs into rivers and much of that is in rivers remote from population centres. We use about 20% of the water that could be taken from our rivers and groundwater sources but there is great variation in the distribution of use. Some areas of the country such as the northern coastline have little use of divertible water resources. Other areas have significant use, notably the Murray Darling Basin, which has more than 50% use and where provision of adequate water for the environment has become an important policy issue. The recent National Land and Water Resources Audit established that half of the profit at full equity in Australian agriculture in 1996/7 came from irrigated production systems, occupying only 0.5% of the surface area of Australia. Its mean annual water use in 1996/97 was about 19 000 GL of surface water and 5 000 GL of ground water. There had been approximately a 26% increase in the area irrigated since the 1980s. Yet, five years later, Australia was in widespread drought. Water restrictions in most capital cities brought home to the urban population that water is a limited resource. It was realised that whilst some of our treated sewage effluent was being recycled for agriculture, that had not of itself reduce the demand for mains (drinking) water. Most of the water used for agriculture and around half of the water being used for industrial i and domestic purposes does not need to be water of drinking quality. Increasingly, wastewater, stormwater and rainwater are being seen as recyclable resources rather than as disposal problems. The purpose of the study has been to generate a succinct update for policy-makers, and to make available a detailed account of developments and arising issues in water recycling for readers seeking information about the current position in Australia. The study was overseen on behalf of the Academy by a steering committee comprising Dr Tom Connor FTSE (Director, Engineering Excellence and Technology, KBR, Brisbane) as Chairman, Dr Graeme Allison FTSE (formerly Chief, CSIRO Water Resources), Mr John Anderson (NSW Department of Commerce), Mr Don Blackmore FTSE (CEO Murray Darling Commission), Dr Mick Bourke, (Chairman, Victorian EPA), Professor Paul Greenfield FTSE (Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Queensland), Dr John Langford FTSE (former Director, Water Services Association of Australia), Professor Tom McMahon FTSE (Professor of Environmental Hydrology, University of Melbourne), Professor Ian Rae FTSE (Technical Director of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering) and Dr Geoff Syme (Director, Water Security and Sustainable Communities, CSIRO, Perth). The project was managed and the report prepared by Dr John Radcliffe AM FTSE (formerly South Australian Director-General of Agriculture and subsequently Deputy Chief Executive [Environment and Natural Resources], CSIRO Australia). Officers of Commonwealth and State agencies provided valuable assistance. Particular recognition is given for help by staff of the Australian Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage, state water resources, environment protection and water/ wastewater service agencies, and the Water Services Association of Australia, which is the national peak body for the water agencies serving the 22 largest cities in Australia. A detailed list of contributors is included in the Acknowledgements section. The preparation and publication of the study was made possible by a Linkage – Learned Academies Special Projects Grant, managed through the Australian Research Council. ii SUMMARY Australia is a large continent with only a small population to husband its land and water resources. Most of its rainfall soaks into the ground. Only 12% of its rainfall runs off and is collected in rivers. Much of this is in tropical monsoon areas with sparse communities and little development. The National Land and Water Resources Audit showed in 2002 that water resources from 26% of Australia’s surface management areas and 31% of its groundwater management units were fully or over- allocated. In 1996-7, Australia used 26,000 GL of water, 75% for irrigation, 20% for urban and industrial purposes and 5% for stock and domestic use. Water is a valuable resource in Australia, but in short supply. There is scope to make better use of recycled water, stormwater and rainwater as additional water resources. This report addresses current trends, particularly since 1999, in the processing, use and methods of application of recycled water internationally and in the Australian States and Territories. It explores a range of water recycling policy issues which include the impact of recycled water on society; the need for the continued assurance of public and environmental health; current regulatory processes and their accessibility to public scrutiny in Australia; the impact and potential impact of the greater substitution of recycled effluent water, storm water and rainwater for drinking water throughout the community and the need for continued investment in innovative research and developmental projects. The report provides observations and recommendations from the issues explored. Background An Australia-wide study commissioned in 1977 (GHD 1977) and another in Victoria (GHD 1978) concluded that representative studies of the economics of reclaimed water projects should be undertaken, and some pilot applications and full scale projects developed, and that water deficits would become a problem in Victoria by 2000. These studies seem to have had little impact in the capital cities where most of the domestic and industrial water consumption was occurring. Meanwhile, sewage treatment systems were coming to Australian small country towns. Many of these, particularly in dry inland areas, recognised that the effluent from their plants could be usefully applied to amenity areas and recreational facilities such as golf courses and sports ovals. However, this represented recycling of only a small proportion of the nation’s effluent At about the same time as publication of the Ecologically Sustainable Development Report in 1991, the Australia states began establishing environment protection agencies and authorities. The potential damage caused by inadequately treated sewage effluent being discharged