“The dam is NOT ‘south of the lower Burdekin agricultural area, and west of Mackay and Proserpine.”

Meg, it is extraordinary that you call me wrong on this matter when it can so easily be confirmed by anyone by simply looking at a map of Qld. You haven’t looked at your atlas!

This tells me a lot – that you get a vision in your head and that’s the end of it. You allow no room for it to be wrong. It wasn’t even worth checking, because you just innately knew you were right….even though you are wrong!!

“….the Haughton and Burdekin Rivers (which are north and south of Ayr respectively)”

YES, the Burdekin River is SOUTH of Ayr! But the Haughton River well and truly WEST of Ayr!

It seems that the same problem applies with the population issue, which you are also profoundly wrong about.

You have had nothing to say about my response to your comments on fertility rate. I presume you concede that you were totally wrong on that matter too.

In fact, you haven’t furthered debate on the population factor at all. It seems that you really are totally disinterested in this huge aspect of the water issue. This is most unfortunate. It really does make for a very unbalanced view on the whole business

Yabby;
It is more than the water you drink.
You clean your teeth.
You wash the dishes.
You use water for cooking at various times during the process.
There are innumeral times when you have the chance of ingesting some water.
I am not sure about clothes washing, I guess it would matter just what microbes were around.
NSW regulation require a maximium temperature of 50 degrees for hot water systems.
I suspect that is not high enough to kill bacteria.
I had a new hot water system fitted and 50 deg is not very hot.
I can put my hand in it with only minor discomfort.
I managed to crank it up to 55 deg.

I hot water system temperature is not one of things that was discussed when people were talking about recycling.

Bazz, how many litres of water do you use to clean your teeth ? :)

If you wash dishes, do you use dishwashing liquid?

If you cook, more often then not, you boil the water. Now
if you don't, like to rinse the veggies, so use the rainwater tap!
How many litres a day is that?

The thing is, Queensland is growing, with so many people moving
there, its raining less and people want water for a song.
People are also creatures of habit, who fear the unknown.
Me thinks that this is playing a role in this debate, us oldish
farts don't like change :)

So are you prepared to pay alot more for water? Is everyone?
The figures need to add up in the end.

Meantime around the world water recycling is pretty common
and cost effective. Meg is happy to let nature recycle it for
her, she just doesent trust technology. (hey... so put in a
drinking water tank)

I'll let you in on a little secret. I live in the outback
and have my own water supply here, alot of it from the roofs
off the buildings. Very occasionally I've cleaned out the bottom
of one or other of the tanks and whewww, you would be amazed what
is in there :) All those birds pooping on my roof, which also
washes into the tanks, hasn't killed me yet either

Yabby,
Maybe so, but in major towns and cities there can be a lot of junk from exhaust pollution on the roofs. They fit a device that passes the water from the roof into the drain for a period and then tips after the roof has had a wash and sends the rest into the tank.

Baz

Yabby, how’s a-cool-million-in-one-hit to ALP from Westpac…

Perhaps $100/200,000, across major-parties from numerous corporates…check before you comment’n’google-to-your-hearts-content…be sure to follow ALL links to see the real extent of your corporate mates’ squanderings.

Added to all those free-dinners and invites to the corporate-sporting-boxes for compliant pollies and industry representatives…it’s amazing how 'resilient' some have become…truth is stranger than fiction…

Then there’s taxpayer-funded-grants to distract shareholders…usually covering/disguising any donations…coincidence?

Well said Bazz!…tank-size depends on average-yearly-rainfall AND essential-potable-usage...I too use tank-water,Yabby (bore-water)

Ludwig, YOU'RE WRONG again…the Haughton AND Burdekin Rivers BOTH run from west of AYR, at some stage…but both run to the sea…NORTH and SOUTH of AYR respectively…check your common sense AND your atlas. See: http://www.burdekin.qld.gov.au/visitorinfo/livingintheburdekin.html#BURDEKINDAM

Confused with Burdekin River basin’s 130,000 square-kilometre catchment-area?

Then take a drive, directions included on weblink, take a turn LEFT on the Bruce Highway north of Ayr-after crossing the Haughton River - travel WESTWARDS to dam wall. The Burdekin Dam was so named because it supplies the Burdekin district with water for irrigation…NOT Mackay,Proserpine or Bowen (1hr south)…the Dam isn’t remotely near Cairns either, as has also been suggested.

I know the Queensland coastline and many inland areas very well, from a lifetime of travelling through them.

Mackay wishes the Dam wall had moved closer…they’d receive all allocated water they’re currently paying through the teeth to retain. Why do I give a damn (excuse-the-pun)? Because Ludwig, I don’t have to live through a drought/depression/war-or-other calamity, to care about the people who are caught up in them, through-no-fault-of-their-own. I don’t want to be like those who hung their heads after the holocaust and asked themselves why they refused to see what Hitler was doing to the Jews, the disabled, twins-for-research, etc.

If I empathise with people’s situations…I have a responsibility-to-act-and-articulate-those-facts…not reach the end of my life and say on my retirement, “My only regret is that I did not speak out once for justice and against corruption.” …as a retiring senior public servant did recently…

Likewise…population‘control’ – Ludwig…should we adopt the Chinese-mantra…killing off all babies over the one-child-policy…my comments earlier give my feelings precisely…careful-what-you-wish-for,Ludwig…

Ludwig,
Meg1 writes in her last line:
"my comments earlier give my feelings precisely…careful-what-you-wish-for, Ludwig…'
And dear Meg is up at 3.33am in the dark writing on the internet.
Meanwhile, I just got up at 6am to give the people of Toowoomba some filtered water.