Qld water policy: Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner backs recycled water

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has fallen in behind the Premier on the hot topic of recycled water. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he would “absolutely” drink recycled water and urged the state government to take action before it was too late for Queensland’s water security.

It comes as The Sunday Mail revealed a multibillion-dollar desalination plant could be built on the Sunshine Coast to avoid a public debate around drinking recycled water.

Mr Schrinner said he wanted to have confidence that the state water authorities had planned for future droughts as well as a rapidly growing population.

“I don’t mind whether the water I’m drinking comes from a dam, a desalination plant or a recycling scheme,” he said.

“I just don’t want to see Brisbane put at risk of running out of water ever again.”

With dam levels dropping below 60 per cent every year for the past three summers, Mr Schrinner said he was “increasingly concerned” that the southeast corner didn’t have enough existing water sources.

“The state authorities in charge of water need to heed the lessons from the millennium drought, not repeat the same mistakes,” he said.

“Population growth and the reality of climate change only increases the need for action.

“It would be devastating for our international reputation if we ran short of water during the Brisbane 2032 Games.

“Telling Olympic visitors to limit their showers to three minutes is not a situation anyone wants to see happen.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said yesterday she would drink recycled water if it was deemed safe, after previously confirming that her government was not considering expanding its use or building more recycled water infrastructure.

The use of treated effluent for drinking water was a hot topic during the millennium drought of the 2000s, and has proved politically unpopular.

Toowoomba residents voted against a recycled water scheme in 2006.

A $1.2 billion desalination plant on the southern Gold Coast was mothballed in 2009 but has since been used to supplement the state water grid in emergencies.