A new water-recycling facility is expected to stop a West Australian council from taking millions of litres of water from an underground aquifer and help the local area combat dry conditions.
The $11.9-million facility and pipeline will be built outside of Bunbury in the south-west of WA and will recycle four to five million litres of waste water a day.
The water will become the City of Bunbury's main source for watering parks and gardens once completed in 2021.
The water will also be made available for use on industrial and construction projects.
WA Minister for Water, Dave Kelly, said the state needed to use water resources wisely.
"The South West has had its 10th driest winter on record," he said.
"We can't take our water supply for granted — whether it's for drinking, whether it's for industry or whether it's for public open space."
The City of Bunbury is currently taking its maximum amount of potable water from the Yarragadee aquifer.
Mayor Gary Brennan said this project would mean the city will significantly reduce the amount of water taken from underground resources.
"Economically it will assist the city greatly, but environmentally and sustainably this is such a no-brainer project for us," he said.
Recycled water important for drought-affected areas
Regional councils across WA have embraced treated water, with areas such as Manjimup and Margaret River currently recycling all of its waste water.
Environmental economist Alex Marsden, said this kind of treatment is used heavily in drought-affected areas.
"That's been really important for areas like the wheatbelt that you can continue to have parks and gardens and ovals that get watered even in the middle of a drought," he said.
"It is not water that is being wasted because it is not suitable for drinking."
There are currently 80 water recycling schemes across WA.
Mr Marsden said he expected that number to grow.
"As we increase demand, due to higher levels of the population and also from the drying climate that we've seen through climate change we will continue to see more of these projects in the future," he said.
But in terms of drinking recycled water, Australia is lagging behind.
Mr Marsden said the closest scheme is a facility near Perth which returns heavily treated waste water back into the ground to drain into near by aquifers over the coming decades.
"It [drinking recycled water] happens overseas — Australians haven't been overly keen on it in the past," he said.
