I.M. I don't believe your idea would wash. given the most wastewater is generated in our coastal cities! Where there's little trouble in accessing volumetric seawater. However, given it is loaded with plant nutrients! Could be used in cash, mop crops!

But particularly in intense double glazed, glasshouse production. Where the aspirated water could be collected as evaporate, then condensed as pristine potable water!

And without involving the huge energy output of reverse osmosis desalination. Done on a large enough scale via grower co-ops. Produce many new jobs, taxpayers and out of season crop production on steroids! The choice, monumental!

Incidentally, after pollination able to be continuously purged with CO2 to completely eliminate predatory insect populations, which then become organic plant food!

Yes, it would cost, out of budget, but as always where there are significant cash flow returns! Not a problem for government!
Alan B.

Thorium was discarded, due to the extreme difficulty of weaponising it! And a good reason for choosing it ahead of uranium and fast breeder reactors which produce weapons-grade plutonium and mountains of nuclear waste! Furthermore, not much nuclear waste ( vastly less toxic) produced by the thorium alternative!

Moreover, thorium is the most energy-dense material in the world and at least four times more abundant than uranium.

And we have by all accounts around 40% of the world's reserves of the stuff. along with considerable reserves of rare earths and lithium etc. All of which along with graphene, need to be mined!
Alan B.

Alan B, sorry, I ment to address you not Aidan.

I think Bren must work for the NSW Government. If its ok to pump desalinated water directly into the Sydney drinking water supply, why not do the same with purified recycled water but of course with less energy demand. In other words you don't need storage! Why don't the NZE advocates support purified recycled water over desalinated water?. It uses less energy, so I assume less emissions?

I have registered to the ongoing COP26 talkfest to see how they think water can help meet NZEmissions. It lasts another week after the Pollies and the likes of Emperor Mal McTurncoat and Twiggy Forest have flown off in his big Biz jet!. From what the talk titles tell me, the seem t o be focused on current energy use, not the benefits and savings of recycled drinking water over desalination. Will keep you all posted!

Amazing ... an author writes an article about poor water planning by failed state burecrats, and the discussion turns immediately to one on MSR, led by surprise surprise by Alan B. I wonder are these commentators paid trolls from the NSW Bureaucrats or their Friends of NSW Bluffocrats society? Distraction seems to be a common trait!

Back on topic, Re Violent Entropy (great avatar by the way), rainwater tanks are a great distributed collector of water in urban areas and utilise unused infrastructure ( roofs!). Unfortunately water utilities like Sydney and Hunter water see rainwater harvesting as " competition" and planners like NSW DPIE have never appreciated the rainwater harvesting.

If you look at their fleeting mention of rainwater in the GSWS document, they merely mention it as an alternative source undertaken by residents and infer its a form of recycling. Odd in that many Australians using it for drinking water, and I have a colleague who actually treats it (including disinfection) to drinking water standards and his water bills are the access charge, with minimal water usage from Sydney Water. Until a few years ago, Sydney Water even banned rainwater harvesting to protect its own monopoly. Hence it no surprise that when rainwater harvesting was allowed, Sydney Water (nor its owner NSW government!) was keen to promote this alternative source.

So why does Government need to have anything to do with most of this? Property Developers and new home buyers could insist that rainwater tanks and a modest solar array will be installed as standard fitout. What's Government going to do, ban it? The optics of any Government doing that would have diabolical consequences.

If Sydney and Hunter Water want to protect their raison d'etre how about they get off their asses and fix the ageing water supply piping? It is my understanding that a significant amount of perfectly good water is lost through leaks from crumbling infrastructure.