Monday, November 15, 2010

E-coli in contaminated desal plant water - NSW

Yikes again!
Ms Keneally said that she had sought clarification from Sydney Water and she understood it was "human error" that caused the incorrect findings to be published.

However, NSW Shadow Minister for Natural Resource Management, Katrina Hodgkinson said the confession of errors in the reporting process should prompt an independent contamination review of both inputs and outputs from the Kurnell Desalination Plant.

"The Keneally Labor government has an appalling track record, and to now simply come out and say 'I'm sorry about this, it's all okay and must have been human error' is just not acceptable and from this Government, not really believable," Ms Hodgkinson said.

"Most appalling is the admission that they haven't even been testing the seawater inputs and desalinated outputs from the desalination plant for Cryptosporidium or Giardia, because they claim these pathogens cannot survive in seawater," she said.
Read more.

Keneally insists the water is safe.

Well, of course, it appears that the watchdog has ditched 'unrealistic' E.coli zero-tolerance target on water quality... read it here.

A little reading:
We won't build dams because of misplaced environmental concerns, so instead we are reduced to drinking our own sewage. Welcome to the absurdity of Australia's headlong rush into desalination, with Melbourne's

$3 billion mammoth Wonthaggi plant due to open next year, just as the skies open, and another brand new plant on the Gold Coast remains mothballed for - you wont believe it - rust!

We won't build dams because of misplaced environmental concerns, so instead we are reduced to drinking our own sewage. Welcome to the absurdity of Australia's headlong rush into desalination, with Melbourne's $3 billion mammoth Wonthaggi plant due to open next year, just as the skies open, and another brand new plant on the Gold Coast remains mothballed for - you wont believe it - rust!
Continue reading Miranda Devine.

7:30 Report - Murky waters...
KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: A call to tighten the health standard for drinking water in Australia has been rejected by water suppliers, who argue this country already has the safest water in the world.

But a leading expert on infectious diseases claims the public has a right to be 100 per cent sure that there are no bugs in its water and the need for tighter scrutiny is even greater if water has been recycled or contaminated by sewage.

By next year, two of the country's desalination plants will be ingesting seawater within three kilometres of sewage outlets.

Matt Peacock reports.

MATT PEACOCK, REPORTER: Australia's one of the few countries in the world where it's still safe to drink water out of a tap. But now there's a dispute about whether our drinking water standard should be tightened.
(I think Matt Peacock's got it arse about there, they want to loosen the drinking water standard... how long until there isn't one?) Read the interview/report here.
Desal plant not protected from E.coli

Australia, November 12 - Desalination plants built near sewage outfalls are not protected by the natural purification that occurs in dams.
Who knew?

Read more here.

2 comments:

stackja1945 said...

kae, Sydney Sunday papers carried Sydney watery ads to reassure people. I live on the North Side so by the time I get to drink the water the e coil is probably diluted.
But the ALP has reputation for stuff ups so what is new?

Minicapt said...

Try to not let buddy from the Med School find out the source for those nasty E. coli bugs. Better ask about his math qualifications.

Cheers