Wednesday 27 June 2007

Do we really need a desal plant?

Premier Dillema was spouting on the news last night about the need for a desal plant, even if it is bucketing down. He made the point that it might stop raining shortly, and we could be short of water again this time next year.

Yes, that's right. However, instead of sinking $1.9 billion into a desal plant, why not spend that money on further reducing the consumption of our existing potable water?

I think that something like 25% of domestic water usage goes into flushing toilets. Another 25% or more goes into using the washing machine, and about the same on showers.

Now I like to have a shower in clean water, and I like to wash my clothes in clean water, but I don't see why I need to flush my toilet with clean water. We have these stupid dual flush toilets that hardly move a turd these days, yet if we flushed them with grey water, we could tip 25 litres into them each time, rather than 6 litres.

The same goes for industry. How many companies really need crystal clear water for their manufacturing processes? Does it matter that much if you use my shower water, once it has gone through a filter?

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