CONTENTS

Introduction
Sewers seaward
Toothless watchdog
Toxic fish
Sewer-side surfing
Public relations battle
Events of 1989
Beyond Sydney
Conclusion
Bibliography

Engineers versus democracy

Engineers do not give up their independence easily. They strive to influence public opinion, regulatory agencies and elected representatives to accept their preferred schemes as the only possible, reasonable and acceptable options. They are still able to have alternatives to ocean disposal dismissed as being beyond the range of feasible alternatives. Reuse of sewage may be publicly popular but is too often regarded as too much trouble by engineers trained and experienced in conventional sewage treatment methods. (This is, of course, not true of all engineers, as is evidenced by Engineers Against Outfalls at Coffs Harbour and the Society or Social Responsibility in Engineering in Sydney.) 

Despite manipulations by sewerage engineers, people in Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and Wellington were able to make themselyes heard through council elections in a way denied to Sydneysiders. In Coffs Harbour one or two representatives may have been subverted by the engineers there. In Byron Bay the Council may have been fooled by the Council engineers. In Wellington the outcome is unclear. But in Sydney people have not even got to base one. There is no council to ditch.

Members of the Sydney Water Board are not elected, they are appointed by a State Government whose electorates range far beyond the Sydney suburbs that are swimming in the sewage. State elections cover a wider range of issues than local council issues and sewage can easily be eclipsed, particularly when there seems to be some unspoken bipartisan policy on sewage disposal. Furthermore, the voting system which provides one member for each electorate rather than proportional representation makes it extremely difficult for single issue or non-party candidates to get seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Sydneysiders will not be given a choice of whether they want secondary treatment or tertiary treatment or sewage farming. They must instead wait for the pronouncement of yet another set of engineers.