Coping with the water crisis

Sydney on Tap
By John Archer
Pure Water Press, 1998
96pp, $9.95 (paperback)

Review by Dot Tumney

John Archer's latest water quality opus provides a description of the events surrounding Sydney's 1998 water crisis. The book describes graphically the limitations of water provision, quality and testing. He emphasises how the corporate mind-set of management worsens problems.

Archer states that viewing water as a commercial product with an image of purity to be protected is dangerous. Seeing image as a corporate asset rapidly leads to cover-up when reality intrudes.

Was Sydney's water crisis real? Considered solely from medical statistics, there were no blips on the graph of reported illnesses. Cryptosporidiosis and giardia did not exceed usual levels.

Did crops of parasites occur at unprecedented levels or were they just monitored more closely and caught in the act under public scrutiny? Testing is difficult, and false positives and negatives are common.

The still unanswered question is: assuming accurate testing, can the world's water entrepreneurs and bureaucrats define a safe level of parasites? Do levels of bugs in our water that are better than some other poor suckers' in another city or country mean it is good enough?

Social responsibility requires opting for a permissible level of zero parasites and forcing water providers to abide by such a standard, even if their screams reach harmful decibel readings.

Archer advocates “microfiltration” technology. Logic indicates that removing bugs and nutrients from water is a more useful long-term approach. Such an approach avoids chemical additives and interactions in which major and dramatic stuff-ups can cause short-term poisonings.

To address the long-term effects of an inadequate water system requires its redesign and replacement. Imagine the job opportunities and the better quality of life that would result. Unfortunately, it would take longer than one parliamentary term or corporate reporting period, so it may not happen.

Archer's last chapter contains descriptions of domestic water filters and advises on their proper use and maintenance.

Since the provision of water is being privatised and productised, and the responsibility for safe water consumption individualised, at some point, I suspect, we will see incentive schemes for individual home filtration systems and lobbying for direct subsidies for minimal filter provision for all.

Filter sales will go through the roof, the corporate bottom line will look lovely, sewage sludge fertiliser will go on being sold complete with parasites, the catchments will stay full of crap and aged pipe systems continue to fail. Another market triumph.

You had better read Archer's book to be ready.

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