Affluence and effluent - 'selling' three water related public policy messages

Michael Anderson – Project ManagerWater Industry Initiative

michaelj.anderson@chisholm.edu.au0438 399 633

International FellowshipIn 2010, I participated in an international fellowship to investigate how international water companies are maintaining the skills of their workforce in the face of the challenges of: 

• An ageing workforce• Climate change• Ever-increasing technology and• Ever-increasing public demand for clean water sources with

low environmental impact

I also came across a number of examples of great public education programs the were being used to inform the public and sell difficult messages

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Despite the recent floods in Australia, climate change and water scarcity remain key policy challenges

“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water”.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, (1706-1790), Poor Richard's Almanac, 1746

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The message has been coming for a while….

Water Associations…AWA

‘Population growth – 21 million to 35 million by 2020 – will push current projects such as desalination/north south pipeline, water grids, to the limits…’

‘One of the challenges will be to ‘sell’ the message to the community that the work is not yet complete on community water conservation. …’

(Tom Mollenkopf – Ozwater 10)

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From a variety of sources….

From academia….The 50 Year Challenge….To provide water for all• in an even drier climate• with twice as many people • with less environmental impact

Prof. David Doepel, Deputy Vice Chancellor Research – Murdoch University

‘In Australia, acceptance on non-potable re-use is 29%, elsewhere in the world it is around 90%’

Recent study by the International Water Centre – Monash University

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Acceptance of alternative water sources

If we lived in a developing nation where access to fresh drinking water may be less than 50%, or, if you were wandering through the Little Desert in 40 degree temperatures with no water, and were offered a bottle of NEWater from the Singapore water reclamation facility, you may not baulk at drinking recycled water – but in Australia we have an ‘issue’ with the concept

In affluent nations, where water is readily accessible, public education programs offer one way to change community attitudes

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Selling the message….

So how do you sell three public policy messages that will be unpalatable to most of society? How do you convince people that:

• They must use less water• They may have to pay more for it and,• They may be drinking recycled water.

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International Policy Initiatives• The ‘Hier’ project• Water pricing in Spain• NEWater facility• Orange County Groundwater Replenishment

System

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The Hier Project

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Hier (Dutch for ‘Here‘) is the name of a large Dutch climate program whose fundamental idea it is to stress the immediate necessity to implement adaptation projects and initiatives to climate change.

This public policy initiatives are about communication – it is about taking an issue that most people know is important but nonetheless is a background issue – eg ‘I know climate change is important, but what can I do about it..’. …. and making it a more prominent issue.

…and for the most part, it is not being driven by government

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ASAGUA – Water Pricing

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‘Spanish municipalities will have to raise their water tariffs by 100% overThe next five years in order to resolve the growing challenges of financingSpain’s water sector’

‘At the same time, desalination and wastewater reuse – which are required to complement depleted conventional water sources – and expansion of irrigation are putting pressure on operation costs’

Adrian Baltanas, Director General - ASAGUA

In Australia we tend to talk about water pricing in terms of water markets for agriculture.In Victoria, where our first desalination plant is nearing completion, we are being pre-warned by government about increases in the cost of water but there doesn’t appear to be any public communication strategies around the need for higher water prices.In Spain, the message is being driven by water associationsSome… are very sceptical about the willingness of local politicians to “pay the political price” of raising water charges for domestic users to a sufficient level so as to ensure cost recoveryNevertheless, Manuel Marchena, deputy mayor of Seville and president of the city’s public water company EMASESA, asserts that domestic consumers are prepared to pay the true cost of their water services if they are properly informed. In Spain there is still no conclusive policy around water pricing… but it is being confronted head on by water professionals rather that government.

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Singapore NEWater Facility

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The Singapore Water Reclamation Study (NEWater Study) was initiated in 1998 as a joint initiative between the Public Utilities Board (PUB) and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR). The primary objective of the joint initiative was to determine the suitability of using NEWater as a source of raw water to supplement Singapore’s water supply.

Singapore NEWater

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The facility at Changi is a functioning treatment plant but was built as a public education facility.

It is advertised on all Singapore tourism web sites.

Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System

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…takes treated sewer water that otherwise would be wasted to the ocean, purifies it to near distilled quality and then recharges it into the groundwater basin

Due to a comprehensive outreach program prior to building, this facility, built on an urban fringe, had 100% support and acceptance by community and environmental groups