We've had a bit of rain of late so perhaps our tanks are brimming or nearly full. There is no State election imminent. You would be forgiven for thinking this story is coming at the wrong time! (It's not.) Please do read on anyway!
Sure, come the next drought we'll all be short of water and we'll be looking at every option to eke out the maximum value from every drop of H2O. Short showers, dying lawns, whisky neat. We know the drill. We've done it before. Buckets in the shower are fine. But recycling sewerage? Of course, many locals do that already with on-site sewage disposal!
This is not a story about those disposal systems. (Rather the opposite.)
Headlines like Water & Sewerage for our Cove have been bobbing up for many years. The one shown here dates from 1979. Back around 2003, MidCoast Water were investigating reticulated sewerage for this area too.
And do you remember the same Water & Sewerage headline before the March State election? Whatever became of that promise?
Well, as it happens, the State Government has set aside $110million from its Restart NSW Fund towards delivery of water and wastewater backlog projects. Eligible Water Utilities and Councils are invited to apply for funding. MidCoast Water is eligible. They need to submit expressions of interest including supplying cost/benefit details.
North Arm Cove is one of about 70 identified Eligible Projects. One of eight in the MidCoast region alone. It is quite unlikely that anywhere near all eligible projects could be funded with the available funding.
Expressions of interest close on 31 August.
