RECYCLED WATER QUESTION RETURNS WITH DAM PUMP PLAN:

IT WAS a debate so controversial, it gave Toowoomba a new nickname.

Now the “Poo-woomba” discussion could rear its head in the future, after it was revealed the Wivenhoe pipeline plan could pump recycled water into Cressbrook under certain circumstances, once the council turned it on.

SEQWater, which managed Wivenhoe Dam, confirmed media reports that if southeast Queensland’s combined drinking water levels dropped below 40 per cent, a recycled water scheme would operate to supply water into Wivenhoe.

“Under the region’s drought response plan, the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme starts remobilising when combined Grid levels reach 60 per cent capacity,” a spokesman said.

“The WCRWS is required to be fully operational and supplementing supply to Wivenhoe Dam if combined Grid levels fall to 40 per cent capacity.”

Currently, the combined water grid levels were at 70.9 per cent.

It comes as the Toowoomba Regional Council revealed it was close to turning on its pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam to Cressbrook Dam, after the region’s combined water levels dropped below 40 per cent.

TRC water and waste chair Cr Nancy Sommerfield the council was able to pump 10,000 megalitres per year from Wivenhoe.

“Pumping rates will not be equal each day but rather will be designed based a variety of factors,” she said.

The debate around recycled water in Toowoomba dates back to 2004, when the city council at the time developed the proposal to combat its dwindling water levels.

But a massive backlash from residents, led by former mayor Clive Berghofer, caused 61 per cent of referendum voters to turn down the plan in 2006.