Ipswich City Council

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Recycled Water Uses

Recycled water has many potential uses - in fact, too many to list.

The table below provides guidance of the likelihood a 'use' may be found acceptable, however proposed 'uses' must be tested within a compliant and site specific Recycled Water (Use) Management Plan (RWMP) including a risk assessment.

To provide extra guidance and reduce duplication of effort, Ipswich Water has nominated uses which are prohibited in Ipswich (for reasons of policy or failed risk assessments), along with those which have been addressed within the Queensland Water Recycling Guidelines or have previously been the subject of successful risk assessment within an RWMP (to our knowledge).

Use	Recycled Water Classification (Treatment Level)
Residential	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Dual reticulated housing with toilet flushing, outdoor hosing and washdown, above-ground garden watering	OK - QWRG*	All residential uses are prohibited	All residential uses are prohibited
Irrigation systems with on-site infrastructure (i.e. storage, pipes, pumps etc)	Prohibited	All residential uses are prohibited	All residential uses are prohibited
Filling swimming pools	Prohibited	All residential uses are prohibited	All residential uses are prohibited
Car washing (residential)	Prohibited	All residential uses are prohibited	All residential uses are prohibited
Commercial	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Toilet and urinal flushing	OK - QWRG*	X	X
Outdoor hosing and washdown	OK - QWRG*	X	X
Above-ground garden and open space irrigation	OK - QWRG*	OK - QWRG	X
Commercial laundries	Not yet assessed	X	X
Commercial cooling and air conditioning involving a cooling tower or evaporative condenser	OK - QWRG*	X	X
Retail nurseries not irrigating ready to eat crops	OK - QWRG*	OK - QWRG	X
Agricultural (excluding irrigation)	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Watering stock	X	Prohibited	Prohibited
Washdown of hard surfaces in agri-industries	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Irrigation of Food Crops	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Food crops consumed raw or minimally processed	OK - QWRG	X	Prohibited
Above-ground food crops with above-ground irrigation, excluding grapes and sugar cane	OK - QWRG	X	Prohibited
Sugar cane and grapes	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Above-ground food crops with below-ground irrigation	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Root crops	OK - QWRG	X	Prohibited
Retail nurseries irrigating ready to eat crops	OK - QWRG	X	Prohibited
Irrigation of Non-Food Crops	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Silviculture, turf, cotton, and wholesale nurseries with controlled access	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Pasture/fodder for dairy animals without withholding period	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Pasture/fodder for dairy animals with withholding period of five days	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Pasture/fodder for non-dairy other grazing animals with the exception of pigs with a withholding period of four days dairy animals	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Irrigation of Open Space	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Above-ground active sporting field irrigation (i.e. football field)	OK - QWRG	X	Prohibited
Above-ground open space irrigation, uncontrolled access	OK - QWRG*	OK - QWRG	Prohibited
Open space with controlled access or subsurface irrigation	OK - QWRG*	OK - QWRG*	OK - QWRG*
School yards and fields	OK - QWRG*	X	Prohibited
Golf Courses	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG*
Irrigation of 'no public access areas'	OK - QWRG*	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Industrial	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Open system with potential for high human contact (i.e. car wash or quarry plant where aerosol generation is constant)	OK - QWRG	X	Prohibited
Open system with potential for occasional human contact but with safeguards in place	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	X
Closed system where there is low potential for human contact	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Concrete mixing	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG
Dust suppression	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG*
Roadworks including sub-grade moisture correction	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG*
Soil compaction	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG*
Consolidation of backfill around potable water pipelines	Not yet assessed	X	X
Sewer re-lining	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG*
Sewer flushing	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG*
Industrial boiler feedwater	OK - QWRG	Requires site assessment	Requires site assessment
Concrete cutting	OK - QWRG	X	X
Graffiti removal	OK - QWRG*	X	X
Aesthetic and Other Recreational	Class A+	Class A	Class B
Fountains and water features with no primary or secondary contact	OK - QWRG*	OK - QWRG	Prohibited
Natural or artificial wetlands	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG	OK - QWRG

Table Legend
OK - QWRG	means Queensland Water Recycling Guidelines recommend this class of recycled water.
OK - QWRG*	means a Recycled Water Management Plan has been prepared for this use in Ipswich
Prohibited	means the use is prohibited for this class of water by Ipswich Water policy
X	means the use is not recommended for this class of water

Last Updated 1 Jul 2008 |

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