If residents agree.

Tea Gardens Hawks Nest residents have the opportunity to comment on a review of environmental factors prepared for the scheme.

The golf course uses over a million litres of water during a hot day which is sourced from the area’s groundwater supply.

The sewerage treatment plant produces over 800 thousand litres of water each day.

“Currently we return the treated water from the plant back to the water cycle through the sand dunes, however working with the golf course provides a beneficial use for the water and actively reduces the amount of groundwater the club needs to extract,” MidCoast Water general manager Neil Hanington said.

Mr Hanington said the amount of water treated at the Hawks Nest plant will increase as the population of the area grows.

“We are estimating this scheme will see more than 100 million litres of water reused each year, which is approximately 35 per cent of the total effluent treated at the Hawks Nest plant,” Mr Hanington said.

Irrigating with treated water will reduce the need for fertilisers at the course, as trace nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous are present.

MidCoast Water is planning to start construction on the recycling scheme next year.

Preliminary plans for additional stages of the project could see treated water reused on local sporting fields.

A review of environmental factors, outlining the details of the reuse scheme, is on display at Great Lakes Council’s Tea Gardens office and at MidCoast Water’s Forster and Taree Customer Service Centres.

Comments should be submitted in writing by 4pm on December 5.