Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
#00199
Case study of
#00185 Potable reuse of treated wastewater behind multi-barrier treatment and long acceptance-building
Implementer
Toowoomba City Council (Water Futures proposal)
Timeline
Since Jan 1, 2006
Location
Description
At the height of the Millennium Drought, Toowoomba City Council's Water Futures proposal would have added indirect potable reuse supplying ~25% of the city's water for ~A$68M. The council put it to a referendum on 29 July 2006. A developer-funded opposition group, Citizens Against Drinking Sewage, ran a visceral campaign that branded the city 'Poowoomba'; 62% voted No. The city instead built a costlier pumped pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam, completed in 2010. Documented in Hurlimann and Dolnicar (Water Research, 2010) as the canonical failure of social acceptance rather than of technology.
Metrics
3Funding
Lessons learned
- Never put a disgust-prone technology to a referendum during an active drought: fear campaigns and visceral framing (e.g., 'Poowoomba') outrun technical reassurance even when the engineering case is sound.
- A small, externally funded opposition group with a single memorable frame defeated the proposal decisively — plan for organised opposition with equivalent communications resources.
- Rejection carried a real cost penalty: the replacement pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam was more expensive than the proposed reuse scheme, and the decision was never reversed.
Documented Jul 24, 2026