Qld’s premier would drink recycled water. But residents won’t get it

The news

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she would drink recycled water, but her government has declined to use a new 30-year water plan to pitch the idea to south-east residents.

Instead, the state government will build a multibillion-dollar desalination plant north of Brisbane by 2035. Experts, meanwhile, have decried the regional plan as a missed opportunity.

The Wyaralong Dam in the Scenic Rim will also be connected to the water grid within a decade as the population increased and a drying climate put pressure on existing infrastructure.

The plan, described as “fiscally irresponsible” by one expert, involves an immediate ramping-up of operations at the Gold Coast desalination plant to turn seawater into fresh water and plans to expand it by 2033.

But Water Minister Glenn Butcher has denied the plan to leave drinking recycled water for a drought “insurance policy” is to avoid public debate before the state election in October 2024.

Why it matters

With warnings of a dry summer, combined dam levels in the south-east have fallen below 69 per cent and a draft government strategy has acknowledged that “societies are confronting the realities of more intense weather extremes and climate impacts”.

This follows stark warnings from the government-owned regional water authority behind the new plan, Seqwater, about the need for new water sources to service a growing population.

Such warnings have been latched onto by Brisbane LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner amid long-running debate about the costs of a new desalination plant compared with use of recycled water in drinking supply through existing infrastructure.

At present, the partially operational Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme supplies only industry.

Resuming full capacity for drinking supply would be considered after dam levels dropped below 60 per cent – potentially as soon as early 2024.

What they said

Palaszczuk said the site of the new desalination plant – potentially in Kawana on the Sunshine Coast – would not be confirmed until a business case was prepared before the 2025 budget.

“Desalination leaves a greater flood buffer in Wivenhoe Dam at the end of a drought, and desalination secures the water grid during flood events when water treatment plants are being impacted by debris,” Palaszczuk told parliament.

Appearing with Palaszczuk at a press conference, Butcher said final costs were yet to be determined, but early estimates had put the cost of a new desalination plant at between $4 billion and $8 billion.

Asked if the government was choosing a more expensive option to avoid public debate about the regular use of recycled water in drinking supply, he responded: “No”.

Palaszczuk and Butcher both reiterated that recycled water and desalination was needed.

Perspectives

Experts told Brisbane Times similar: water supply not reliant on rainfall – such as desalination and purified recycled water used around the world – was key.

University of Queensland senior lecturer Nina Lansbury said the state’s plan “could be a missed opportunity” for recycled water, but thought past public debate that bruised government and the water industry had perhaps driven the approach.

University of New South Wales professor Stuart Kahn said it was “fiscally irresponsible” and purified recycled water should be the priority for the south-east, with longer-term planning for desalination.

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