Australians set to drink waste water

Sydney: All Australian states will be forced to use purified waste water for drinking if the current 100-year drought continues, said the premier of Queensland state yesterday, after being the first to approve recycled water.

"I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water," said Peter Beattie, premier of the tropical state of Queensland.

"These are ugly decisions, but you either drink water or you die. There's no choice. It's liquid gold, it's a matter of life and death," he told local radio.

Beattie announced on Sunday that Australia's second largest state would become the first to use recycled water for drinking.

But the practice, which is used in Israel, Singapore, the United States and parts of Europe, does not have widespread public support in Australia.

To try to change opinions, Prime Minister John Howard and Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull have backed Queensland's move.

"I am very strongly in favour of recycling and Mr Beattie is right and I agree with him completely," Howard said yesterday.

Turnbull said Australian cities, all now facing falling dam levels because of the worst drought on record, must incorporate recycled water in their water plans.

Water sources

"Recycling is a real option for our cities," Turnbull told reporters yesterday. "All of our big cities have to expand the range of water sources they have and include sources which are not dependent on rainfall," he said.

Australia's other five states and two territories have rejected the use of recycled drinking water, opting for desalination plants or tapping into underground water.

Beattie had promised to hold a statewide vote on the controversial issue of recycled drinking water but said the current drought had left him no choice but to authorise plans to start building water-recycling plants.