Barrier ZERO Prof Mike Young Executive Director The

Barrier ZERO! Prof. Mike Young Executive Director The Environment Institute The University of Adelaide Melbourne 25 th June 2009 Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute What would one do “upstream” if one wanted to recycle more water? Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Supply costs down & demand up • Improve the quality of – Sewage water – Storm water Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Stormwater quality • Water sensitive urban design • Pollution avoidance – Harvest where it is cleaner? – First flush management? • Tighter pollution controls • More investment in street cleaning and cleaner streets • Would a pollution audit pay? Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Detergents • Reduce the quantity of salt in detergents – By regulation? – Tax? Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Water softeners • Ban them totally? • Don’t allow ones that use salt? Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Stormwater credits • Stormwater control infrastructure is expensive – • But cheaper than floods! Establish a stormwater management authority to recover the full costs of flood control • Stop subsidising infrastructure • Offer credits to people who invest in activities that reduce peak storm water load • Require developers to off-set or pay for marginal impact on cost of flood management infrastructure • Off-setting encourages retrofitting Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Load-based licensing • Precursor to use of marketbased instruments to improve sewage quality – Pollution charges – Trading within established limits Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Sewage charging • Simplest model is to charge in proportion to average daily volume of water used in winter • Allow people to apply for a rebate if they reduce their sewage load! • Watch the innovation occur • Pass revenue to the business that treats the sewage? Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Treatment plant location • Put sewage treatment plants high-up in a city • Use gravity to deliver water under pressure down hill • Smaller decentralised plants may make this approach feasible Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Increase sewage volume • Encourage some storm water to flow into the sewage system – Not the first flush? Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Full cost pricing + externalities • No subsidies • No grants • 3 rd party access Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Administrative unbundling • Separate sewage treatment from the water supply business • Separate storage management from bulk water supply • Competition Life Impact The University of Adelaide

The Environment Institute Subscribe to Droplets at www. myoung. net. au Prof. Mike Young Water Economics and Management Email: Mike. Young@adelaide. edu. au Phone: +61 -8 -8303. 5279 Mobile: +61 -408 -488. 538 Life Impact The University of Adelaide