Reduce water use
Water Corporation, in conjunction with the community, will continue to look for opportunities to encourage more efficient use of water. Many communities in the Lower Great Southern are already quite efficient with their water use.
A ‘two days per week’ sprinkler roster was introduced in October 2007. This had a significant effect on total water consumption and still remains in place.
A winter sprinkler ban was trialled during 2009 and has since been introduced as a permanent water efficiency measure in some areas of the State, including the Lower Great Southern.
As part of Water Forever: Lower Great Southern a Water Efficiency Forum was held in Albany during October 2009. This yielded many good ideas. One of the ideas produced, “Seek a Leak Week”, has already been introduced. This program encouraged people to undertake a simple test to determine if they have leaks in their homes.
Some of the existing water efficiency programs, which will continue to operate throughout the Lower Great Southern, are:
• Waterwise Councils Program
• Waterwise Schools Program
• Waterwise Plumbers
• Waterwise Garden Centres
Our Waterwise Schools Team is working with local schools to encourage participation in the Waterwise Schools Program. Nine schools in the study area are already recognised as Waterwise schools. Three schools in the Lower Great Southern are currently working towards this status.
Great Southern Integrated Water Efficiency Project
Water Corporation applied for Federal Government funding under the National Water Security for Cities and Towns program to undertake the Great Southern Integrated Water Efficiency Project for two years. This will cost about $8 million, jointly funded by Water Corporation and Federal funds. In June 2010 we were notified that this application was successful.
This integrated project will have three key elements:
• behavioural change programs;
• residential and non residential retrofits (provision and installation of waterwise appliances); and
• leak detection and repair of water mains.
A behavioural change program will focus on reducing participating households’ usage by up to 10%. Retrofit programs are designed to save up to a further 12% of all participating households’ use and 10% of non residential participants’ usage.
Active leak detection and repair programs will be carried out to address reticulation system losses for both Albany and Denmark. Based on the value of water saved, economically justifiable repairs will be undertaken on the detected leaks. The target is to save 5.4% of water supplied to Albany and Mount Barker and 6.8% of water supplied to Denmark by minimising leakage losses.
The estimated total savings from the Great Southern Integrated Water Efficiency Project are 665 million litres per year.
Rainwater tanks and Rainwater Tanks Incentive Scheme
Another key message of the Water Efficiency Forum was the role that rainwater tanks can play in reducing dependency on scheme water and the enthusiasm for them by residents/participants.
Water Corporation supports the use of rainwater tanks connected for inside use for non-drinking purposes such as toilet flushing and clothes washing. While rainwater tanks often provide water for outdoor uses such as garden watering, greater savings can be made by plumbing the tank water into a house or business.
Water Corporation data indicates that rainwater tanks, internally connected for non-potable uses, can save up to 60 kilolitres of water per year. This represents approximately 20% of the average household use. We will continue to work with the community and Local Authorities in the study area to explore opportunities to provide rainwater tanks for new and existing properties.
The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (2004) note that above-ground rainwater tanks generally provide a safe supply of water. However, the guidelines recommend that for household drinking water supply, emphasis should be on selecting the best quality source water available. Water Corporation recommends that people connected to the public drinking water supply system use Water Corporation supplied water for drinking and only use rainwater tanks as a source of non-drinking water.
To encourage our customers in the Lower Great Southern to install plumbed-in rainwater tanks we are investigating opportunities to provide an incentive. The incentive offered by Water Corporation would be in addition to any rebate that owners are eligible for under the Federal Government rebate program (see www.environment.gov.au/rebates/ for details and eligibility criteria).
As part of the Water Forever: Lower Great Southern comment period we welcome your comments and suggestions to help us shape this incentive scheme.