Professor Ian Frazer Pic: AAP

by Rebecca Vonhoff

AUSTRALIA's leading scientist Professor Ian Frazer says recycled water is perfectly safe.

He said closely monitored recycling processes produced water "so pure.....it needs stuff added back to give it water taste'".

Professor Frazer, who received acclaim when he was named the 2006 Australian of the Year, described the water that is produced from recycling as "ultra pure".

He said the multiple processes sewage water undergoes before it runs from domestic taps are reinforced by the treatment it receives after it is drawn from dams.

CThe ultra pure water ... is ... further subjected to all the processes that are used to clean up reservoir water which, after all, birds urinate in, fish swim and die in, and people play in an on," Professor Frazer said.

"These processes further ensure that the water is safe for drinking."

Detailing the recycling process which is "basically ... about removing everything from the water except the water itself", Professor Frazer said the reverse osmosis technique that extracts water molecules based on size and charge is "pretty failsafe".

Even in the event of a power outage, the process stops and "nothing passes into the clean water area at all, and everything goes to waste", he said.

"This process has been used to produce ultra pure water for surgical operations and for kidney dialysis for many years and has proven safe and reliable."

But Professor Frazer's faith in the recycled water process is in contrast to another distinguished scientist's views.

Professor Don Bursill, former South Australian Water chief scientist, who in 2004 oversaw a review of national drinking guidelines and who was recognised in last week's Australia Day honours, said the regulatory systems that cover recycled water needed more attention.

While Professor Bursill is confident in the technology that produces recycled water, he is concerned about the guidelines, accountability and room for human failings in the process.

He said "human failings" were responsible for people being "made ill or sometimes killed" in 80% of contamination cases globally during the past 20 years.

Citing everything from "plain incompetence" to a "lack of training", Professor Bursill said technology failings were not a cause for concern, but rather the human element.

"People say the technology is there to produce safe, high-quality drinking water, that's true.

"But the regulatory system and procedures are not there. "Do we have the regulatory processes in place so that somebody's going to be brought to accountability if there is a problem?

"I don't think that's the case."

While Professor Bursill said these issues could be resolved, at the moment the "background work hasn't been done".