Australian public lack desalination and reuse info says survey

A quarter of all Australians are “not at all informed” about water reuse or desalination, according to a national survey carried out by the Australian Water Association.

Launched to coincide with National Water Week 2010, the research found that fewer than one in five Australians say that they are “very informed” about either treated recycled water or about desalinated water (18% and 17% respectively).

However, the survey also found that, when asked to consider a range of options, 60% of those surveyed were in favour of the used of desalinated water to boost water supplies and the same percentage supported reuse of treated grey water at home. Surprisingly, 48% were in favour of using treated wastewater to boost water supplies.

The research also found that although many Australians are prepared to reduce their water consumption and support water restrictions in order to protect Australia’s water supply, the majority favoured increasing the country’s water supplies.

The full report can be obtained only to AWA members, although a summary is available for non-members.