A researcher with Queensland's Department of Primary Industries (DPI) says it is environmentally safe to use processed human waste as a fertiliser on food crops. The CSIRO is coordinating the research as part of a four-year nationwide project. Queensland project manager, Dr Mike Bell, is preparing his final report.
He says the processed waste is the by-product of the water recycling process and can be used safely.
" ... we're starting to see potassium decline and we're seeing trace elements decline, so it makes sense."
One of the leading campaigners against water recycling in Toowoomba, Rosemary Morley, says farmers will find it difficult to sell their produce if they use recycled human waste to grow food. "People are just not prepared to go anywhere near using their own excrement, whatever treatment's gone to it, because people know that you usually don't go near that," she said.
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