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The most common source of elevated As concentrations in the Australian environment are attributable to anthropogenic activities. Mining activities have contributed to the contamination of soil and water primarily in Western Australia and Victoria. However, other anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, forestry and industry have also contaminated soil and water at a localized scale. Currently there are over 1000 As contaminated sites previously used as cattle dips for eradicating cattle ticks. Although As contamination of the environment may be severe enough to limit plant growth there appears to be few other reports identifying the impacts of the contaminants on other organisms, such as fish, mammals and humans. In Australia the impacts of metal/metalloid contamination of the environment are often unnoticed or ignored. However, the impacts of elements such as As may pass unnoticed by the public or regulators due to the perception of the minimal impact a contaminant has on the environment. This paper presents an overview of As in the Australian environment including the sources of As contamination, soil, water and plant As content, and the pathways of exposure.

Technology and economic development has led to the growth of megacities and urban centres with populations in the millions. Such population expansion and densification increases the strain on wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure, which has been largely based on an end-of-line centralised model. However, in megacities new challenges arise, because provision of suitable sanitation is expensive and it requires infrastructure expansion through construction of extensive sewer networks and larger capacity wastewater treatment plants, which consume more energy. Alternative disposal techniques for solid and liquid waste generated during the treatment process are required, because disposal solutions are decreasing as landfill costs rise and environmental standards are tightened, the latter reducing opportunities for land reuse. Additionally, mass wastewater discharge can have a detrimental impact on the ecology of water bodies and on the health of downstream populations, and requires suitable treatment before disposal. These challenges have the potential to offset the savings that the economies of scale offered by the traditional wastewater collection and treatment systems can impart. The need for affordable and effective wastewater systems in megacities requires the re-evaluation of traditional systems and the re-engineering of water and wastewater transport and resource concepts. Alternative concepts in wastewater collection and treatment, such as decentralised treatment, allied with innovative solutions using current and new technology could play a role in providing affordable and sustainable solutions to deal with the wastewater issue. This paper investigates the scope that integrated wastewater treatment and localised water reuse (in-line treatment, sewer mining), resource recovery (biogas, biosolids), operational changes (timed discharge of sewers, vacuum sewers) and biotreatment (e.g. vermiculture, faecal coliform removal) can play to guarantee the longevity of wastewater infrastructure in megacities. These alternatives offer increased treatment efficiency, recovery of value-added products, and reduce infrastructure cost, whilst maintaining health standards and reducing environmental discharge.

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