The sewage solution – The promise of recycled water and why it’s so hard to swallow

As the climate changes and populations boom, water supplies are under increasing pressure. 

The idea of drinking water that was once swirling down your toilet bowl or kitchen sink may make you feel squeamish, but it could hold the key to future water security. 

University of Sydney Professor Stuart Khan explains the promise of purified recycled water, and how it can future-proof water supplies in a thirsty nation prone to drought. 

“There is the opportunity to start thinking more about a circular economy and how we might reuse the water that we’re currently discharging.” 

Professor Khan points out that all water on Earth is recycled – the water you’re drinking “has quite likely been drunk by dinosaurs in the past” and could be described as “purified dinosaur pee”.  

But there’s a huge psychological hurdle involved in drinking water that’s gone from ‘toilet to tap’. So how do you sell the idea to a skeptical public? You’ll hear from Dee Madigan, creative director of advertising agency Campaign Edge and a regular on ABC TV show Gruen.  

You’ll also get a taste of how the technology works as you go inside Sydney Water’s Purified Recycled Water Demo Plant, with plant manager James Harrington. 

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The Solutionists is podcast from the University of Sydney, produced by Deadset Studios. Keep up to date with The Solutionists by following @sydney_uni on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Sourcing/credit: Archival media clip from ABC News. 

This episode was produced by Monique Ross, with field recordings by Harry Hughes. Sound design by Jeremy Wilmot. Executive editors are Kellie Riordan, Jen Peterson-Ward, and Mark Scott. Thanks to the technical staff at the at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Media Room. 

This podcast was recorded on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. For thousands of years, across innumerable generations, knowledge has been taught, shared and exchanged here. We pay respect to elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

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