Future directions for water recycling in Australia

Although the scope for water recycling was examined in two reports in 1977-1978, it was not until the Environment Protection Authorities had been established in most of the states in the early 1990s that water authorities began making substantial use of treated wastewater, using recycled water on land as a component of meeting newly imposed discharge limits from sewage treatment plants. The period of nation-wide drought in 2001-2003 led to increased interest in the use of recycled water as a means of substituting it for drinking quality water where that standard was not required. The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering published an extensive review of water recycling in Australia in March 2004, outlining progress to 2001 and identifying 24 issues that needed to be addressed. Developments since then are discussed, including an intergovernmental agreement between the Australian Government and most of the States and Territories on a National Water Initiative, and the generation by the mainland States of new strategies which aim to reduce per capita demand for water and increase the use of recycled water, stormwater and rainwater in Australia's capital cities.