Australia is a longtime global environmental leader. Now, Australians in the Queensland region that includes Brisbane, the Gold and Sunshine coasts, and other towns, will be the first in the country to consume their consumed wastewater. The Queensland Water Commission has taken wastewater and sent it through multiple levels of treatment, in effect, recycling it for reuse as clean, healthy, potable water.

According to the Queensland Water Commission, the decision to use recycled water (which is not always popular or cost-efficient) was taken to “ensure sustainable water supplies by developing long-term water supply strategies, establishing a regional water grid, implementing water restrictions, managing water demand, providing advice to government and reforming the water industry."

In Australia, wastewater is processed through seven levels of treatment to remove toxins and purify the water. In comparison, American wastewater companies that recycle water for reuse in recreational landscaping, usually detoxify the water using three levels of treatment.

Wastewater from Australian businesses and homes travel through the sewer system to a local treatment facility. The secondary effluent is then sent through a microfiltration process where particles of nitrogen, phosphorous, suspended solids and organics are removed.

At that point, the treated water can be used to irrigate landscaping or be sent on to a third level of reverse osmosis treatment, where viruses and bacteria are removed. Next, the water can either be cycled through buildings for use in restrooms, or be further treated to remove inorganics, additional bacteria and protozoa.

At this stage, the water is now clean enough for industrial use -- or it can remain in the treatment cycle for a fifth round of purification, where advanced oxidation is conducted to remove still more bacteria and viruses. The water is now fit for power generation facilities, unless it is sent for blending to a natural environment, such as a wetland or a treatment pond. In its final stage of purification, water moves through the seventh step of the process, where treatment and disinfection occurs.

Queensland residents can expect the first of their recycled water to hit nearby watering holes and dams next February. Recycled water will make up approximately 10 percent of the region’s water supply and that percentage could increase to 25 percent over the course of the next few decades, should global climate change result in more drought-like conditions.