The tap water you drink in London has passed through an average of 20 people.

I've had it, and it tastes better than the tap water in Richmond.

Of course it's safe, there's no way it'd get to your tap if it wasn't. They have very strict guidelines on these sorts of things. The fact that Australia has a problem with it only demonstrates that this country has the collective mentality of a 6 year old.

Australia: 'Ewwwwww groooossss!'

Bugsy, your belief that discussion on this thread of sustainability issues as they are related to water is some how inappropriate is quite bizarre.

Check out the seven posts before my first post. Not a thought of how recycling fits into the greater perspective. My comments which were made to bring it into perspective were totally appropriate.

That would have been the end of the sustainability bit, except for one response from you which prompted further comments, to which you again responded.

You promulgated the discussion Bugs.

You might also notice that your first two posts in response to me had absolutely nothing to do with water.

Now would you care to address the question that I asked of you in my last post, which is directly relevant to recycling?

First of all this tapwater we drink in most of Vic.is diluted with an industrial waste product called fluorolisic acid falsely called "Fluoride". G.d knows what else, I did measure the difference between natural springwater and tapwater in parts per million. Springwater has 12ppm.(minerals) against tapwater anywhere fluctuating from 26 to 52ppm.That is a difference of min.14ppm. Can anyone tell me when the requirement of 1ppm of Fluoride is reached what the rest is made out of?
The waterpeople won't tell you! BTW.rainwater of a tin roof along a main road tests 16ppm.

The point I am trying to make is this, we and our environment are being poisoned to such an extent that any spillage into rivers,aquafers or underground water sources will be so polluted we won't even be able to pump it up for drinking. I took a stroll along the Yarra downstream from Richmond last year,only to find dead eels floating,of all fish they could have handled a lot of pollution,think about it.Then there was a stroll along the bay just past Carrum where I saw millions of small shrimps dead along the shore line. What quarantees are there that recycled water can be cleaned from the pesticides and drugs and med's we've been taking? Does the following pic.tell a story to anyone? http://www.newstarget.com/cartoons/Expensive_Urine_600.jpg

Bugsy,"As previously noted, desalination also pumps the salty slurry back into the ocean (heavy metals and all), what good would that be for the environment around the outlet pipe?"

Ever heard of magnesium chloride harvesting? (see http://www.imva.org)
I am sure that hospitals could use filtered seawater for blood transfusions instead of the salinesolutions they use now? How about using seawater for big market gardens as has been tried and tested in the East? Most centerparts of Australia was under sea water why else do we have salination on vast areas,it's again, ripping away forests instead of planting which did the damage.As for saltwater farming take a leaf out of the Dutch history book and research the "Ijselmeer" and the "Afsluitdijk" you'll see that replacing saltwater with freshwater
over time and enclosing vast areas of land can be regrown with crops after years of growing reeds and grasses.Reeds being natural filters for all sorts of pollution as well.
So there would be a market for by-products

Sorry: the link is
http://imva.info