❓ Hon. Hallett questions the timeline for achieving the government's 20% wastewater recycling target by 2012. Hon. Chance responds, citing incremental project development, Kwinana plant expansion, Gnangara mound recharge research, community consultation, and high recycling rates in rural WA.
AnsweredQoN 70Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Can the minister detail why it will take six years to reach the 20 per cent waste water recycling benchmark recently set by the government for 2012? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. The state water strategy set an aspirational target of 20 per cent recycling by 2012. It was expected that this target would be achieved incrementally, as projects were developed. Subsequently, the Kwinana water reclamation plant was constructed, and plans are under way for its expansion. The state government is investigating the use of managed aquifer recharge with reverse osmosis-treated waste water to be reinjected into the Gnangara mound, which will result in levels of recycling significantly greater than 20 per cent. This takes time, as ground water flows and monitoring take a number of years, and research is currently under way to understand local impacts. We also need to progress this initiative with close community consultation - keeping the community fully informed as our understanding improves - and this cannot be rushed. It should be noted that the water recycling rate in country Western Australia is already at around 40 per cent, which compares favourably with that in Israel, which leads the world in water recycling.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. The state water strategy set an aspirational target of 20 per cent recycling by 2012. It was expected that this target would be achieved incrementally, as projects were developed. Subsequently, the Kwinana water reclamation plant was constructed, and plans are under way for its expansion. The state government is investigating the use of managed aquifer recharge with reverse osmosis-treated waste water to be reinjected into the Gnangara mound, which will result in levels of recycling significantly greater than 20 per cent. This takes time, as ground water flows and monitoring take a number of years, and research is currently under way to understand local impacts. We also need to progress this initiative with close community consultation - keeping the community fully informed as our understanding improves - and this cannot be rushed. It should be noted that the water recycling rate in country Western Australia is already at around 40 per cent, which compares favourably with that in Israel, which leads the world in water recycling.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. The state water strategy set an aspirational target of 20 per cent recycling by 2012. It was expected that this target would be achieved incrementally, as projects were developed. Subsequently, the Kwinana water reclamation plant was constructed, and plans are under way for its expansion. The state government is investigating the use of managed aquifer recharge with reverse osmosis-treated waste water to be reinjected into the Gnangara mound, which will result in levels of recycling significantly greater than 20 per cent. This takes time, as ground water flows and monitoring take a number of years, and research is currently under way to understand local impacts. We also need to progress this initiative with close community consultation - keeping the community fully informed as our understanding improves - and this cannot be rushed. It should be noted that the water recycling rate in country Western Australia is already at around 40 per cent, which compares favourably with that in Israel, which leads the world in water recycling.
The state water strategy set an aspirational target of 20 per cent recycling by 2012. It was expected that this target would be achieved incrementally, as projects were developed. Subsequently, the Kwinana water reclamation plant was constructed, and plans are under way for its expansion. The state government is investigating the use of managed aquifer recharge with reverse osmosis-treated waste water to be reinjected into the Gnangara mound, which will result in levels of recycling significantly greater than 20 per cent. This takes time, as ground water flows and monitoring take a number of years, and research is currently under way to understand local impacts. We also need to progress this initiative with close community consultation - keeping the community fully informed as our understanding improves - and this cannot be rushed. It should be noted that the water recycling rate in country Western Australia is already at around 40 per cent, which compares favourably with that in Israel, which leads the world in water recycling.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. The state water strategy set an aspirational target of 20 per cent recycling by 2012. It was expected that this target would be achieved incrementally, as projects were developed. Subsequently, the Kwinana water reclamation plant was constructed, and plans are under way for its expansion. The state government is investigating the use of managed aquifer recharge with reverse osmosis-treated waste water to be reinjected into the Gnangara mound, which will result in levels of recycling significantly greater than 20 per cent. This takes time, as ground water flows and monitoring take a number of years, and research is currently under way to understand local impacts. We also need to progress this initiative with close community consultation - keeping the community fully informed as our understanding improves - and this cannot be rushed. It should be noted that the water recycling rate in country Western Australia is already at around 40 per cent, which compares favourably with that in Israel, which leads the world in water recycling.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. The state water strategy set an aspirational target of 20 per cent recycling by 2012. It was expected that this target would be achieved incrementally, as projects were developed. Subsequently, the Kwinana water reclamation plant was constructed, and plans are under way for its expansion. The state government is investigating the use of managed aquifer recharge with reverse osmosis-treated waste water to be reinjected into the Gnangara mound, which will result in levels of recycling significantly greater than 20 per cent. This takes time, as ground water flows and monitoring take a number of years, and research is currently under way to understand local impacts. We also need to progress this initiative with close community consultation - keeping the community fully informed as our understanding improves - and this cannot be rushed. It should be noted that the water recycling rate in country Western Australia is already at around 40 per cent, which compares favourably with that in Israel, which leads the world in water recycling.
The state water strategy set an aspirational target of 20 per cent recycling by 2012. It was expected that this target would be achieved incrementally, as projects were developed. Subsequently, the Kwinana water reclamation plant was constructed, and plans are under way for its expansion. The state government is investigating the use of managed aquifer recharge with reverse osmosis-treated waste water to be reinjected into the Gnangara mound, which will result in levels of recycling significantly greater than 20 per cent. This takes time, as ground water flows and monitoring take a number of years, and research is currently under way to understand local impacts. We also need to progress this initiative with close community consultation - keeping the community fully informed as our understanding improves - and this cannot be rushed. It should be noted that the water recycling rate in country Western Australia is already at around 40 per cent, which compares favourably with that in Israel, which leads the world in water recycling.
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