Wastewater reuse studies and trials in Canberra

Abstract Reuse of sewage effluent has the potential to both minimize the disposal of water to the environment and reduce the demand on fresh water supplies. In Canberra the Australian national capital city, trials are being undertaken to demonstrate the practicalities of reuse. The first referred to as “water mining” consists of a small treatment plant constructed within the urban environment which extracts flows from an adjacent sewer and uses the treated effluent for the irrigation of nearby playing fields. In the second project, six houses have been disconnected from the city sewerage system and each provided with its own treatment plant. Effluent is stored in tanks on-site and used for garden and lawn irrigation and toilet flushing. The third project also involves a house disconnected from the sewerage system. The blackwater and greywater strains are kept separate. A low-cost process has been devised for the treatment of the greywater stream with effluent again used for irrigation and toilet flushing.