The recycled water tap was turned on here on the Gold Coast on Tuesday the 1st of December for use in our homes, and yesterday (Saturday the 5th of December), the first mess up was revealed on the news – recycled water has somehow ended up in the drinking water of over 600 homes in Coomera. Oops!

Recycled water is used in several places around the world (some even in their drinking water!) and in theory, if you ignore the possible health ramifications, it sounds like a feasible idea. Here in Australia, lets face it – water’s a problem. With droughts that last for years, a growing population and a growing requirement for water, it’s definitely something that needs to be resolved in some way. I just have serious doubts that recycled water in our homes is the answer.

First lets look at what recycled water is – Recycled (or reclaimed) water is sewage that has been treated. All of our waste water from our toilets and drains goes to the local treatment plant, it has the solids removed. Then (according to the literature given to us a couple of weeks ago, by a council employee knocking doors to educate the public on the impending implementation and use of recycled water), it goes through several treatments including:

  • Biological treatment
  • Anthracite treatment
  • Chlorine disinfection
  • Membrane Ultra Filtration
  • Ultra-violet disinfection
  • Chlorination

It is then pumped to our homes.

Now all of these treatments are all very well. They should indeed remove bacteria and pathogens if performed correctly, I would guess (the tricky bit here is the word ‘if’. This is local government that’s responsible for all these procedures after all). Anyway, let’s assume that the bacteria from all the faeces, urine, vomit and other bodily fluids and functions is removed – all good there. What about the rest?

Herein lies the problem – there are so many variables with what goes down peoples toilets and drains that there is no way everything could ever be tested for and there is no way for everything to be removed.

There are chemicals of all kinds – it’s not just they stuff you yourself would use, but the things that others put down the drains. Everything from personal care products and cleaning products, to automotive products, industrial chemicals and who knows what else?

Then, possibly the biggest concern, is the pharmaceutical drugs that get poured down the toilet or the drain when no longer required by some thoughtless people. As well as the remnants of drugs that have passed through the bodies of those taking them and excreted via the kidneys in their urine or passed through the digestive system and expelled in the faeces of those who haven’t managed to digest their medicine for whatever reason.

Recycled water is potentially (and very probably) a chemical cocktail – a cocktail of who knows what sort of chemical residues as well as synthetic hormones (from the millions of women on the contraceptive pill), blood pressure medications, mind altering psychiatric medications, painkillers, opiates and so, so, so much more.

For me, coming into contact with this stuff isn’t something that I’m keen on and at this point if everything was to be perfect and go to plan, I shouldn’t have to come into contact with it and neither should anyone else. But, everything isn’t perfect. People make mistakes (local governments and their staff are known for it unfortunately) and only 5 days after implementation, over 600 families have been drinking this stuff, bathing in it, and cooking in it for the past few days – apparently. If that were me – I’d be angry. Very angry!

However, council as usual is doing it’s collective best to pass the buck and blame the developers, as well as under playing the whole thing by minimising the health risks, and telling people to boil their water for the next few days just in case – she’ll be right mate!

For those who don’t know about the chemicals and the drugs, it’ll sound like a feasible plan and they probably won’t be too concerned. But you see, these residues from the chemicals and the drugs in this treated sewage that is pumped out into our environment, are already having an impact on our wildlife -the affects are being studied and documented as we speak- and the wildlife is only being subjected to this treated sewage in a diluted form, in the rivers and lakes that they live in and around. Wildlife that is being rendered sterile and unable to breed because of endocrine disrupting chemicals and hormones. Wildlife that’s changing sex – boys becoming girls. Exposure to this treated sewage is having this effect on our wildlife. Us humans won’t by some miracle be exempt from it’s effects!

So, the few days of exposure for the unfortunate families over the other side of the highway from where I live, probably won’t have a huge impact on their health – right? or will it? Do we know?

The information that the council handed out to educate us residents about the recycled water says it should not be used for the following:

  • Drinking
  • Cooking or other kitchen purposes
  • Personal washing such as baths, showers, bidets or hand basin
  • Domestic evaporative coolers
  • Clothes washing
  • Swimming pools and spas
  • Recreation, such as water toys and playing under sprinklers
  • A water source for pets or livestock
  • Filling rainwater tanks and other storage

Ensuring that it is not used for these purposes and only for it’s intended purposes is the householders responsibility – apparently. That’s according to the council documentation. But, you know what? People are people. Some are smart and some are not so smart. Some care about their families and their health and some just don’t care so much. Some care about their pets, and some really don’t care about them at all.

So what’s going to happen is:

  • Some people will let their kids play with it or the kids will play with it without their parents knowing
  • Some people will fill up their dogs water bowls with it
  • Some people will renovate their houses and connect the wrong pipe up to the drinking tap
  • Some people will fill up their swimming pools with it because it’s cheaper
  • Some people will fill up their kids pools with it because they just don’t think
  • Some people will spray their vege gardens with it and not wash the produce before eating it

These are guaranteed scenarios because people are human and human’s sometimes do things they shouldn’t or make mistakes. So where does that leave us?

There have already been cases in Sydney of people filling their pools with recycled water because it’s cheaper and if it only affected the moron doing the filling, then that would maybe be ok. But it doesn’t only affect that person. It affects his family that uses the pool and any friends that also unknowingly use the pool. The childrens friends perhaps that come over every day after school for a swim. It’s scary.

And then of course as we’ve already seen there’s the errors made by council or plumbers or whoever is responsible for getting it right and making sure it’s going down the right pipes and ending up in the right taps.

There has to be a better way!