Tuesday, 9 November 2010

Water safety !

There are some alarming rumours circulating about Sydney's desalination plant. It is suggested that the water coming from this plant and into our drinking water is contaminated by E-coli.

The state government has issued a denial.

It seems to be a matter of " where there's smoke - there's fire ! " The inlet for the desalination plant and the outlet from the sewage treatment facility are only a kilometre apart - and that raises many questions.

It would not be an issue if the sewage was fully treated to a pristine condition before being discharged into the ocean, but can we guarantee that this is so ? Or is it a fact that in overload conditions - such as in major weather events - raw sewage is going into the ocean ?

A mix of sewage and drinking water is simply disaster waiting to happen. This can not be left to " spin " to make the problem go away. Perhaps the inlet to the water treatment plant needs extending further out to sea - or the opposite to carry pollution further into the ocean.

Whether this is fact or fiction needs to be established. It is certainly not an option to be ignored !

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