Australian Water Use

[journeyman Mick]

I think any ineficiencies in irrigation are more likely to be tied to evaporation in storage and transport (dams and open channels as others have said) rather than the actual delivery to the crop. Sure, you'll lose some to evaporation but most watering is done early in the morning to minimise this, and you will have some run-off and you will be watering weeds and headlands but all in all it's pretty efficient. I don't think many farmers would waste too much irrigation water, even if they don't pay what the domestic consumer considers a lot for it. See there's another cost involved and that's the electricity or diesel to pump it to where it's got to go. It's a bit different for the car wash operator, if he wants/needs to recycle he needs to construct settling tanks and filters and then a holding tank, much cheaper to let the stuff go down the drain and get some nice, fresh, potable stuff from the tap.

Mick

[journeyman Mick]

........................What are the potential health hazards of this?

Well if you live in the tropics there's a huge potential for Ross river fever, Dengue fever and maybe even malaria. Also wheels disease (Leptospirosis) apparently is not just contactable from rats urine but is harboured in stagnant water. Up here there's about 2 cases per year, some of them fatal (friend of a friend just died from it a few months ago) so if the countryside is dotted with swimming pools full of stagnant water we may see an increase in Leptospirosis and probably a few other diseases as well. If othing else you'll have plagues of mosquitos and the council health inspector knocking on the door.

Mick

[woodbe]

Mick, I don't have a pool, but if I did, I'd be doing things like diverting the warmup water from the shower (that's the water that you run before the hot water arrives) to the pool. In the long term, greywater recycling would have to be the only sustainable method of keeping a pool, but the health authorities are going to need some convincing...

[Christopha]

OK, I'm going to stick my neck out a country kilometer.

When I purchased my house, it had a swimming pool which holds about 20,000 litres of water. If I spent about $45,000, I could have it removed and the space re-landscaped, and perhaps that's what I will end up doing.

However, in the meantime, I and tens of thousands of pool owners are faced with a dilemma. Stage 4 water restrictions will only allow pool topping-up by bucket. The bucket must be filled at a tap, not by a hose.

Although I recently purchased a pool cover to minimise evaporation, the pool still looses about 10mm of water per week. Once the water level drops below the skimmer box, the filtration system will no longer function. I haven't started to top the pool with buckets yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if this took hundreds of bucket per week (if not more). If I can keep up, I may be able to keep the pool filtered and avoid stagnation, algae growth and mosquito infestation. But I can imagine that there will be many pool owners that won't or can't keep there pools maintained.

What are the potential health hazards of this?

Now I don't want you to get sick by not carrying your buckets around and I don't want you to "Do yer back in" carrying the things either so why don't you do the right thing by society and fill the mongrel thing in and stop wasting water with a frigging pool at all????

[Shedhand]

fill the pools in and plant cacti in them.
lobby councils to implement grey water purification. I'd drink it.

[woodbe]

Page 14 from the WE Australian, Inquirer section:

"The new reality of living with less rain"

Water managers are warning the three big dams on the Murray will be dry or close to dry by the end of May 2007 if there is no rain. If that happens, Adelaide, which relies on the Murray for much of it's water, will, in the words of water spokesman for the Australian Council for Infrastructure Development, Graham Dooley, be "basically stuffed. The amount of water available in the Murray for all purposes is going to be under very, very severe restrictions"

They go on to say that Perth is the only city to have planned for the current drought and adopted a 'scenario approach', the rest have been planning based on historical yields that just have not been happening, but those cities are slowly changing their approach.

After reading that, I don't know why Adelaide isn't on the highest possible water restrictions already. We're going to level 3 on January 1.

woodbe.

[woodbe]

do the right thing by society and fill the mongrel thing in

Better still, put a tank liner in it and cover it. Collect the rainwater off the house into it and plumb it back into the house.

woodbe.

[echnidna]

Now I don't want you to get sick by not carrying your buckets around and I don't want you to "Do yer back in" carrying the things either so why don't you do the right thing by society and fill the mongrel thing in and stop wasting water with a frigging pool at all????

Wot a waste...

Put a roof on it and yer got an underground shed

[SPIRIT]

just going to make up facts as l go along now
there is the same rainfall globely as there was befor to what has changed
cutting down trees has something to do with it
a group of trees changes the air pressure above them which in turn makes the water fall from the sky
so we must plant more trees a lot more .were we wont the rain to fall
now to do this you do need a lot of trees our 1 mil tree plant by the gov is like a drop in the sea ...stop cutting more planting .the cost will be masive but bean counters are already saying the envio going down hill is going to put a dampener on good xmas prizzies in a few years saveing water is just a bandaid
l was told by a botherer the day of judgement is comming

let us all dance

[ozwinner]

just going to make up facts as l go along now
Dont spoil a good story with facts
there is the same rainfall globely as there was befor to what has changed
cutting down trees has something to do with it
a group of trees changes the air pressure above them which in turn makes the water fall from the sky
I thought trees grew where there was more rain, not the other way around?
so we must plant more trees a lot more .were we wont the rain to fall
I have a lot of trees in my back yard but it doesnt rain much?
now to do this you do need a lot of trees our 1 mil tree plant by the gov is like a drop in the sea ...stop cutting more planting .the cost will be masive but bean counters are already saying the envio going down hill is going to put a dampener on good xmas prizzies Hope we can still cut down Chrissie trees though in a few years saveing water is just a bandaid
l was told by a botherer the day of judgement is comming
Nothing like a good..........story

let us all dance

[Master Splinter]

From the Australian Bureau of Stats (full details in Water Account, Australia)

• During 2004-05, 79,784 GL of water was extracted from the environment and used within the Australia economy. Of this amount, 11,337 GL was extracted by water providers, while water users directly extracted 68,447 GL.
• Of the total volume extracted from the environment (79,784 GL), 62,445 GL was returned to the environment as regulated discharge, with 60,436 GL of this discharge being in-stream use, almost entirely by the electricity and gas supply industry (59,924 GL) for hydro-electric power generation.
• In 2004-05, there were 413 water providers in Australia, supplying 11,337 GL of distributed water. This compares to 479 providers and 12,934 GL in 2000-01.
• Water consumption was 18,767 GL in 2004-05, a decrease of 14% from 2000-01 when it was 21,703 GL.
• The agriculture industry consumed the largest volume of water with 12,191 GL, representing 65% of water consumption in Australia in 2004-05. This is a decrease from 2000-01 when it was 14,989 GL and 69% of water consumption.
• Water consumption by Households was 2,108 GL in 2004-05, accounting for 11% of water consumption in Australia. This compares with 2,278 GL in 2000-01 when it accounted for 10% of water consumption.
• In 2004-05, Australia's large dams had a capacity of 83,853 GL. They contained 39,959 GL of water at 30 June 2005, a decline of 10% from 30 June 2004 when they contained 44,164 GL.
• The 1,300 GL traded in 2004-05 represented 7% of water consumption and 4% of the entitlement volume of water access entitlements.

[SPIRIT]

From the Australian Bureau of Stats (full details in Water Account, Australia)

• During 2004-05, 79,784 GL of water was extracted from the environment and used within the Australia economy. Of this amount, 11,337 GL was extracted by water providers, while water users directly extracted 68,447 GL.
• Of the total volume extracted from the environment (79,784 GL), 62,445 GL was returned to the environment as regulated discharge, with 60,436 GL of this discharge being in-stream use, almost entirely by the electricity and gas supply industry (59,924 GL) for hydro-electric power generation.
• In 2004-05, there were 413 water providers in Australia, supplying 11,337 GL of distributed water. This compares to 479 providers and 12,934 GL in 2000-01.
• Water consumption was 18,767 GL in 2004-05, a decrease of 14% from 2000-01 when it was 21,703 GL.
• The agriculture industry consumed the largest volume of water with 12,191 GL, representing 65% of water consumption in Australia in 2004-05. This is a decrease from 2000-01 when it was 14,989 GL and 69% of water consumption.
• Water consumption by Households was 2,108 GL in 2004-05, accounting for 11% of water consumption in Australia. This compares with 2,278 GL in 2000-01 when it accounted for 10% of water consumption.
• In 2004-05, Australia's large dams had a capacity of 83,853 GL. They contained 39,959 GL of water at 30 June 2005, a decline of 10% from 30 June 2004 when they contained 44,164 GL.
• The 1,300 GL traded in 2004-05 represented 7% of water consumption and 4% of the entitlement volume of water access entitlements.

l need the smilely faces to understand all that

[pcal]

Water use is a huge issue... In my neck of the woods, south of Adelaide, our water doesn't come through the network of reservoirs in the hills that SA Water tops up with Murray water when they are running low. Our taps are fed directly from the Murray river with no storage inbetween. Up until 8 or 9 years ago, it wasn't even filtered - and the brown sludge that used to come out of the taps would make you sick just to look at it! Talk of being fed from the "rear end" of the Murray had real meaning in those days.

One of the first things we did when we built about 12 years ago, was to put in a 2500 litre rainwater tank that is plumbed to gravity feed a tap on the kitchen sink - and we just DON'T drink anything else.

While water is still a big issue, one of my personal philiosophies is "Never let what you CAN'T do get in the way of what you CAN." So, while I can't solve Australia's water crisis, I've done as much as I can in my own little corner. In addition to the drinking tank, I have a 22500 litre tank fed from my 20'x30' shed, and a 1000 litre tank picking up most of the house rain water that doesn't make it to the drinking tank. A submersible pump in the 1000 litre tank shifts the water up to the 22500 litre tank.

In the summer, I pump water from the big tank to feed drippers on all my fruit trees, vegetable garden, and other sundry productive plantings. When the tank is empty, irrigations stops. I don't use any mains water in the garden at all. The front yard, has only plants that are supposed to survive on what falls from the sky, and so receive no artifical assistance. Our front lawn (and I use the term advisedly), fluctuates from green and lush to brown and crispy on a seasonal rotation.

In the winter, once the main tank has refilled, I throw a couple of valves and shut off the mains all together, running the entire house on rainwater from the tank. The record stands at having the mains switched off for seven months. Three to five would be more of an average figure, but is almost totally dependant on rainfall in the year in question. There is also a bit of guesswork involved - knowing when to switch the mains back on allowing enough future rainfall to refill the tank so there is something left for the fruit trees next summer.

All the talk from our premier about boosting restrictions means nothing to me - since cutting back lawn watering from three days a week to one day a week is fairly meaningless when you havn't watered the lawn in years anyway! Sure, I'm not going to win any neighbourhood gardening competitions, but at least I know I've done my bit.

Pcal

[SPIRIT]

Water use is a huge issue... In my neck of the woods, south of Adelaide, our water doesn't come through the network of reservoirs in the hills that SA Water tops up with Murray water when they are running low. Our taps are fed directly from the Murray river with no storage inbetween. Up until 8 or 9 years ago, it wasn't even filtered - and the brown sludge that used to come out of the taps would make you sick just to look at it! Talk of being fed from the "rear end" of the Murray had real meaning in those days.

One of the first things we did when we built about 12 years ago, was to put in a 2500 litre rainwater tank that is plumbed to gravity feed a tap on the kitchen sink - and we just DON'T drink anything else.

While water is still a big issue, one of my personal philiosophies is "Never let what you CAN'T do get in the way of what you CAN." So, while I can't solve Australia's water crisis, I've done as much as I can in my own little corner. In addition to the drinking tank, I have a 22500 litre tank fed from my 20'x30' shed, and a 1000 litre tank picking up most of the house rain water that doesn't make it to the drinking tank. A submersible pump in the 1000 litre tank shifts the water up to the 22500 litre tank.

In the summer, I pump water from the big tank to feed drippers on all my fruit trees, vegetable garden, and other sundry productive plantings. When the tank is empty, irrigations stops. I don't use any mains water in the garden at all. The front yard, has only plants that are supposed to survive on what falls from the sky, and so receive no artifical assistance. Our front lawn (and I use the term advisedly), fluctuates from green and lush to brown and crispy on a seasonal rotation.

In the winter, once the main tank has refilled, I throw a couple of valves and shut off the mains all together, running the entire house on rainwater from the tank. The record stands at having the mains switched off for seven months. Three to five would be more of an average figure, but is almost totally dependant on rainfall in the year in question. There is also a bit of guesswork involved - knowing when to switch the mains back on allowing enough future rainfall to refill the tank so there is something left for the fruit trees next summer.

All the talk from our premier about boosting restrictions means nothing to me - since cutting back lawn watering from three days a week to one day a week is fairly meaningless when you havn't watered the lawn in years anyway! Sure, I'm not going to win any neighbourhood gardening competitions, but at least I know I've done my bit.

Pcal

so so true if everybody did what you have done it wouldn't be prob .a little spin on things will there be a tax on tanks l have 2 x 26000 ltrs+ 7x 1000 ltrs tanks makes you think

[pcal]

a little spin on things will there be a tax on tanks l have 2 x 26000 ltrs+ 7x 1000 ltrs tanks makes you think

Well of course, there is already a tax on tanks in the form of the GST.

But in addition to that, I have heard it said that since SA Water charges on the basis of consumption, if everyone's consumption fell by 30 - 40% or more as mine has, and the Government kept on drawing its "Dividend" from SA Water, they would have to either go broke, or charge a whole lot more just to stay afloat.

So in a round about sort of way the Government, restrictions or not, has some degree of vested interest in not allowing consumption to fall too far...

...talk about conflict of interests!