On-site wastewater technologies in Australia

Domestic wastewater reuse is currently not permitted anywhere in Australia but is widely supported by the community, promoted by researchers, and impr ovised by up to 20% of householders. Its widespread implementation will mak e an enormous contribution to the sustainability of water resources. Integr ated with other strategies in the outdoor living environment of settlements in arid lands, great benefit will be derived. This paper describes six opt ions for wastewater reuse under research by the Remote Area Developments Gr oup (RADG) at Murdoch University and case studies are given where productiv e use is being made for revegetation and food production strategies at hous ehold and community scales. Pollution control techniques, public health pre cautions and maintenance requirements are described. The special case of re mote Aboriginal communities is explained where prototype systems have been installed by RADG to generate windbreaks and orchards. New Australian desig n standards and draft guidelines for domestic greywater reuse produced by t he Western Australian State government agencies for mainstream communities are evaluated. It is recommended that dry composting toilets be coupled wit h domestic greywater reuse and the various types available in Australia are described. For situations where only the flushing toilet will suffice the unique "wet composting" system can be used and this also is described. A vi sion for household and community-scale on-site application is presented.