Think about the future for you, your family and your community.

Using recycled water reduces drinking water use by up to 70% in your home, saving precious drinking water supplies. In the 2019 drought, recycled water was not subject to water restrictions, so households had access to a secure water supply all year round. Without having to install a bulky rain-dependent rainwater tank in your yard, you can still help to ensure Australia’s sustainable future — simply by choosing to use the purple tap.

Most Australians use drinking water for everything!

We flush and wash away up to 70% of the drinking water we use daily. Only 10% goes in our mouths, with the remaining 20–40% used in our bath or our cooking. 

We can dramatically reduce the amount of drinking water we use, simply by harnessing millions of litres of disused wastewater that's currently pumped out to sea or into our waterways. Water is not just important for drinking and washing — insufficient water means we cannot grow adequate food supplies or maintain industry.

Laying recycled water mains in conjunction with drinking water mains in new developments is a relatively simple and cost-effective method of introducing recycled water. To retrofit recycled water into existing areas, serious excavation under roads, nature strips and private property would be required. Home owners would also bear the cost of installing recycled water plumbing and fixtures within their properties. This means retrofitting communities with recycled water can be prohibitively costly and time-consuming.

BUT at Altogether, we never say never!

Recycling and re-using water is a great way to save drinking water and help care for the environment. Saving drinking water by recycling means we have extra water available in case of drought — and for a growing population.

We don't need to use drinking water to wash our clothes, flush toilets or water sports fields. Recycled water can do the job safely, and just as well.

Absolutely! In fact we encourage all residents to ensure their washing machine is connected to the recycled water system as it not only helps to preserve valuable drinking water, but also ensures water balances across the community. 

Altogether mandates a recycled water washing machine tap on all new works. This means there will be two taps to supply the washing machine — hot drinking water and cold recycled water.

All of our licences include clothes washing as an authorised purpose. The recycled water we produce is clean, clear and odourless. It leaves no residue in clothes or washing machines. Washing machines are typically the third highest user of water in the home. Using recycled water in washing machines can save about 20,000 litres of drinking water a year.