Establishing a water substitution target

To address Melbourne’s future water needs the Victorian Government is proposing to take 75 billion litres of water from the Goulburn Valley – a region already desperately short of water- and build a seawater desalination plant at Wonthaggi.

The Government’s plans are expensive leading to a doubling of the price of water for consumers, they will have a negative impact on the environment and are socially divisive.

The Nationals believe a better way forward is to provide effective incentives for industry and households in Melbourne to substitute recycled water and storm water for potable water used for non potable purposes such as flushing toilets, watering lawns and gardens and by industry.

There are huge untapped opportunities to do this given that each year Melbourne Water pumps 300 billion litres of treated sewage into the sea and 500 billions litres of rain water falls in the metropolitan area with most of that entering Port Phillip Bay and Westernport as stormwater runoff.

Our solution involves establishing a mandated water substitution target with the aim of replacing 30 percent or 130 billion litres of the city’s current potable water use with recycled water, treated storm water or rain water by 2020.

The proposal is modelled on comparable Victorian and Commonwealth schemes to promote
renewable energy and more efficient use of electricity.

The Nationals have put out a discussion paper on Establishing a water substitution target which is available from the link below or by directly by clicking on teh heading of this item.

http://www.vic.nationals.org.au/pdf/WaterDiscussionPaper.pdf

Your feedback and comments would be welcome.


Peter