Potable reuse: Experiences in Australia

Australia has played an important role in the development of potable reuse internationally. Most significantly, Australia was the first country to develop national water quality guidelines specifically for this purpose. This has recently been followed-up with the development of detailed protocols for the validation of treatment performance for a number of key advanced water treatment processes. Nonetheless, the successes of potable reuse projects, which have been proposed for development in Australia, have been variable. An important groundwater replenishment project is now operational in Perth, Western Australia. However, what was to be a similarly important reservoir-augmentation project in South East Queensland is currently idle. A smaller scheme in Sydney, New South Wales, produces highly treated reclaimed water for river-flow augmentation upstream of a drinking water offtake. Each of these projects has contributed to technical skills and provided important research opportunities. Key research topics and outcomes are described here. Finally, prospects for the future role of potable reuse in Australia are considered.