Science Forums 2

[Monomer]

I read this in our latest newsletter:

A team of CSIRO researchers and partners have created drinking water fit for a Prime Minister out of stormwater previously left to flow down the gutter.

CSIRO Land and Water's Water Use and Reuse team at Urrbrae, led by Dr Peter Dillon, collected and bottled the water from a suburban Adelaide aquifer in what is believed to be the first urban stormwater to be bottled as safe drinking water in Australia.

Prime Minister John Howard, Environment and Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull and CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Geoff Garrett were amongst the first to drink the water at a meeting of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) in Canberra on June 22.

The water was collected from reed bed-treated urban stormwater from Salisbury, SA, which had been stored in a limestone aquifer for 12 months and recovered. It is 93 per cent stormwater from 2005 and seven per cent brackish native groundwater, estimated to be 10,000 yrs old.

It was rigorously tested and meets all drinking water criteria. Risk assessment and management was performed by Senior Research Scientist Dr Declan Page.

The bottling aimed to demonstrate the work of the Aquifer Storage Transfer and Recovery (ASTR) project, which involves CSIRO, United Water, the City of Salisbury, SA Water and the SA Department of Land, Water and Biodiversity Conservation.

"We are trying to show the value of what we currently let flow down our gutters by developing the demonstration project and also management frameworks that can be replicated," Dr Dillon says.

"There is potential for 250GL of this water to be harvested a year in the three cities studied so far, and the cost is less than current mains water supplies if the flood mitigation and land value benefits are also considered."

Dr Dillon, who was at the July 22 meeting where Dr Garrett presented Mr Howard a bottle of the water, says he hopes this project will change the way people treat stormwater.

"I hope people who drink this water will see stormwater differently and value it as a precious resource," Dr Dillon says.

"Cities are highly effective catchments yielding at least 4000 times more run-off per hectare than the Murray Basin. In most Australian capitals more water flows down gutters than is supplied through mains.

"Stormwater harvesting, along with rainwater tanks, are the most greenhouse-friendly approach to water supply expansion, and belong in the portfolio of solutions advocated to PMSEIC.

"Some governments have yet to establish drought and emergency supplies, but in the meantime councils with vision and suitable aquifers are able to reduce demand on city water supplies on a commercial footing.

"Ultimately we have shown potential for this water to go into mains supplies. Further research is required to validate this and then make these methods available."

There was a link to this website ASTR: Welcome to the Aquifer Storage Transfer and Recovery