PROJECT DETAILS
- Project No 3039
- Project Name Potable Water Reuse: What can Australia learn from global experience?
- Lead Organisation Water Research Australia
- Research Lead UNSW Sydney
- Main Researcher Stuart Khan
- Completion Year 2019
Project Description
This discussion report describes international and Australian examples of different ways to use recycled water: groundwater and aquifer replenishment, surface water augmentation and direct potable reuse. The authors explain that the World Health Organisation and Australian regulators do not recommend ‘end point monitoring’ of drinking (not reuse) water as the sole and primary means of ensuring health and safety standards, but instead focus on the preventative risk management of source waters and treatment processes in combination with Health Based Targets for water quality. This philosophy and experience is now being applied to potable reuse water. The report makes a series of recommendations, one of which emphasises the need for an Australian national strategy for integrated urban water management.