Water dust-up By Shaun Inguanzo

GREATER Dandenong Council has copped a spray for using 30,000 litres of drinking water every day to suppress dust on the city’s dirt roads.
Tough Stage 3 water restrictions around the state prompted Keysborough South Ward councillor Peter Brown to this week slam the council’s use of drinking water to suppress dust as ‘scandalous’.
Council officers have since vowed to switch to recycled water from 1 February – but say drinking water is the only answer until then.
City of Greater Dandenong engineering services director Tim Tamlin said the delay in switching to recycled water was due to transport hurdles.
“The problem is that the water carts also deliver household drinking water, and once they put recycled water in them, they can’t deliver (drinking) water any more,” he said.
Mr Tamlin said the recycled water trucks the council needed for its dirt roads were “tied up with the (Gippsland) bushfires” – and even when available, transporting enough water could be a difficult task.
“We use 30,000 litres a day, so to get that here from water recycling plants will be a bit of a challenge,” he said.
But Mr Tamlin ruled out stopping the use of drinking water to suppress dust while plans to use recycled water were being finalised.
The council is bound by the Road Management Act to ensure the roads do not pose safety risks.
“We can’t (stop using drinking water) because of the public health risks, occupational health and safety risks, and road safety risks that would pose,” he said.
Mr Tamlin said water was the only answer because chemical dust suppressant did not last long on Dandenong’s frequently graded roads.
But Cr Brown said water conservation should come before dusty roads.
He also suggested the council water trees of significance instead.
“I appreciate dust problems, but with established trees dying, a bit of dust is not much to put up with,” he said.
Stage 3 water restrictions came into effect on 1 January and prohibit the watering of lawns, and restrict watering gardens to specific days for odd and even numbered houses.
New pools can not be filled, and existing ones below a 2000-litre capacity can only topped up with buckets and watering cans.