Oral Presentation Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress 2026

Water recycling in WA: Historical and chemical perspectives (138199)

Cynthia A Joll 1 , Anna Heitz 1 , Kathryn L Linge 2 , Yolanta Gruchlik 1 , Keith Cadee 1 , Luis Restrepo Vieira 1 , Rachael Miller 3 , Palenque Blair 3 , Beatrice Yong 3 , Richard Theobald 4
  1. Chemistry, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. ChemCentre, Perth
  3. WA Water Corporation, Perth
  4. WA Department of Health, Perth

For the past 25-30 years, climate change has been evident in Perth based on the significant decrease in annual rainfall and streamflow run-off since the 1970s. WA’s south-west has dried at one of the fastest rates in the world and the decline in rainfall is the largest in Australia. This early onset climate change in south-west WA has necessitated development of new drinking water sources, such as indirect potable reuse of advanced treated wastewater. While informal recycling of wastewater to the environment occurred in many regional WA towns, secondary treated wastewater was discharged to the ocean in Perth. After a comprehensive study of the microbial and chemical constituents of raw, secondary and advanced treated wastewater which informed the development of health and environmental guidelines, a 3 year trial of groundwater replenishment was then conducted. The trial successfully demonstrated that advanced treated wastewater could be safely recharged into groundwater aquifers to supplement Perth’s drinking water supply. A full-scale water recycling plant was implemented in two parts in 2017 and 2020, with WA being the only state in Australia currently conducting water recycling for drinking water purposes. The Curtin Water Quality Research Group in the Discipline of Chemistry at Curtin University has been undertaking research to determine the presence of organic chemical contaminants in raw wastewater, and their removal in treated wastewaters, for more than 20 years to support water recycling in WA. Organic micropollutants studied include antibiotics, psychopharmaceuticals, other pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, personal care products, endocrine disruptor compounds, persistent organic pollutants, and pesticides and other industrial chemicals. With renewed interest in water recycling in Australia, this paper will present an overview of the staged approach to water recycling in WA and describe how wastewater chemistry underpins water recycling development.

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