Australia switched on $7.8M wastewater plant that breaks down stubborn pollutants 16x faster and processes 700 megalitres annually

An average Australian household generates about 350 litres of wastewater daily. Combined across the country, this leads to hundreds of gigalitres of wastewater that is managed in the country by more than 720 sewage treatment plants. While the country turns a major portion of this water into recycled water for agriculture, industry and other fields, it takes immense energy and time for the process to complete.Now, the country has built a new method of recycling wastewater which uses less energy and works faster than conventional systems. Inventor Troy Warry said his system is about 16 times more efficient at breaking down stubborn pollutants in wastewater than conventional methods. The water treatment scientist explained that it was the product of years of "trial, error and sleepless nights and crying in the shower" for an end result that uses fewer chemicals and processes wastewater faster."There are a lot of advanced oxidation [systems] out there, but this is the first titanium dioxide-based one in the world where the catalyst is permanently immobilised inside the reactor while still remaining highly photoactive," he said to ABC News. "It uses a lot less energy, produces much clea...