Tuesday’s announcement was not just a milestone for water security, but sheer population growth.

Fact-checking after the press conference, we found earlier stories two and three years ago referred to 1500 homes being involved.

So when we saw a figure of 2000 for this story, we questioned it, but sure enough, 2200 homes are now connected – that’s an astonishing 700 extra homes built in the last couple of years. 

The scheme itself is a bit of a foray into the unknown – people who are part of the scheme are still paying the same amount for non-potable water as they are for their drinking water supply, at $2.34 a kilolitre. 

A report to Orange City Council last year noted the cost for processing non-potable water was 46 cents higher per kilolitre because it involved almost the same amount of processing with fewer economies of scale, but staff also noted keeping the price the same would discourage excess use. 

Therefore, unless the council can achieve savings in the future, the key to success will be very much an environmental one – how much potable water can we save? 

With a growing number of households using this system, it’s likely to be quite a lot.

Earlier estimates indicated the system could save as much as 40 per cent on previous potable water usage for those homes. 

That means a good portion of water normally flushed down the toilet or used to wash pets or water the garden, will be available for proper drinking water use – washing and cooking. 

It will inevitably have a positive impact on dam levels as the water will be taken directly from the stormwater harvesting system. 

But it has a limit – the scheme needed 10 kilometres of pipe, an extra pump station and treatment facilities for completion and only has capacity for 4500 homes.

Shiralee is not being developed with the dual supply infrastructure and the mayor on Tuesday indicated it was very much a case of available funding. 

State and federal governments have recently shown an appetite for funding water security projects. 

If this project proves its mettle in resources saved, the case could be put to bring more areas into the fold. 

Perhaps then, those evasive economies of scale could be achieved and we could see some cost savings as well.