Australian Water Use

[woodbe]

Master Splinter: Thanks for the link. Good to have some current numbers.

pcal: Good info! How many in your household? We're heading down the same path. Tank is in, just waiting for rain

woodbe.

[pcal]

pcal: Good info! How many in your household? We're heading down the same path. Tank is in, just waiting for rain

woodbe.

We have 4 in the family, including a teenage daughter (need I say more)...

[woodbe]

We have 4 in the family, including a teenage daughter (need I say more)...

Nope. We have 2 of the blighters, but of the male variety.. Got a fair idea what you're on about

[pcal]

Nope. We have 2 of the blighters, but of the male variety.. Got a fair idea what you're on about

Our young Mister is still in the pre-teen "compliant" phase, so double trouble is still a few years off...

...still, think how much worse it could have been without the tank!

Pcal

[SPIRIT]

if anyone wont's to put a dam in tell them it's for wild life or you will be hit by a consumion fee l was shocked when l was told

[Harry72]

The thing I cant understand with the topping up of pools with buckets instead of a hose... why, the pool still needs the same amount of water? Wouldnt the hose be a better method of efficiently moving the water with less evaporation?

[journeyman Mick]

The thing I cant understand with the topping up of pools with buckets instead of a hose... why, the pool still needs the same amount of water? Wouldnt the hose be a better method of efficiently moving the water with less evaporation?

I'm guessing that it forces people to think about whether they really want the damn thing or not. I reckon I'd be thinking about putting in goldfish to eat the mozzie wrigglers and just using it as a water reservoir.

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.

Pcal,
if only more people would take your approach (ie, less whinging, more doing) well, the water crisis wouldn't be so much of a crisis. I take pretty much the same approach as you do to my lawn, but living in the tropics mine goes from savannah landscape in the dry season to luxuriant meadow in the wet. I also don't mow it as often as it needs to be a "lawn", because I reckon it's a waste of time and petrol, especially since during the wet you could mow it twice a week to keep it in line.

Mick

[SawDustSniffer]

there was a plan to use the ORD dam ( wa / nt boarder ) to irigate the desert all the way to Kalgoolie then reverse the pipe line to perth ,

there is enough water going over the spill way of the Ord river dam ( a millon litres per sec ) every JAN /FEB/Mar to run an open channel / pipe line over hills to Port augusta in south austraila ,

flood lake Eyre ,and other salt lakes ( turn it into the Dead sea ), let the open channels top up the water table ,irrigate the deserts and grow food .The avaporation off WA and SA should cause more rain fall on the western side of the great devide ( Murry Darling rivers )

[rodm]

Pumping from the Ord has been a popular concept for years. There have been many studies done on proposed piping and open ducts as well as various routes to solve water shortage or increase agricultural value. The problem is the high cost of construction and the ongoing energy costs for pumping the water.

The latest study preferred a short term solution by constructing a desalination plant in the Perth metropolitan area. My thoughts are we have stuffed the land so leave the oceans alone but economics seem to be more important.

If you look at a map the Ord is central north and equally positioned to tap into and service the southern and eastern states. It will need Federal resources or at the least a cooperative between states before this one gets off the ground.

Perhaps the benefit might be an increase in agriculture in Kununurra if water restrictions in southern states push up prices.

[ozwinner]

I reckon I'd be thinking about putting in goldfish to eat the mozzie wrigglers a

Mick

We knew some people in Ballarat whos pool cracked and leaked so they put 2 gold fish into it.
They forgot about the fish for years, then one day dipped a net into the coupla feet of water, there was so many fish in it that they started selling them to pet shops on a regular basis.

They never once fed them or anything.

Al

[coastie]

I saw a doco on the Ord a few weeks back on either SBS or ABCTV really opened my eyes up enough water being piped out per day to keep Sydney in water for a month!!
Has the desalination plant been finished yet,I will be visiting Perth Jan 22 - Feb 11th would like to have a look at it.
The thing that amazes me is that the government taxes water that falls from the sky. If you want to put a dam on your property you have to pay a tax,how f......g ridiculous

[Gra]

Time for everyone to do a rain dance.



Al

Al put you clothes back on....

any excuse

[Clinton1]

I've heard gossip that households with water tanks will be charged a "Collection fee" in Melbourne..... just gossip, but it would not suprise me if it happened!

FWIW - I didn't feel that woodbe was having a go at agricultural water users, just asking questions about an issue thats getting more and more attention.

Woodbe - goodonya.... there's an enourmous amount of slanted 'reporting' aimed at generating scandal about agricultural water use. Goodonya for asking questions rather than just accepting the 'between advertisment fillers'.

Related issue:
I use irrigation and 'soil management' best practice in my gardens, drawn from both experience farming and reading DPI/CRC research.

I've got healthy black friable soil (was compacted clay and a bit of cheap 'soil') to @ 1/2 meter deep with lots of actively growing, water hungry, plants.
I water once every 2 weeks or so using laundry rinse water and a bucket, we do several laundry loads all at once so I can get lots of water.
Even got a green front lawn, it gets the water from 'inbetween' loads.

I think this (soil maintenance) is a forgotten/overlooked aspect of minimising water use.


My votes with leaving the Northern Aus rivers alone rather than piping them south. Better still, move north.

[rodm]

I saw a doco on the Ord a few weeks back on either SBS or ABCTV really opened my eyes up enough water being piped out per day to keep Sydney in water for a month!!
Has the desalination plant been finished yet,I will be visiting Perth Jan 22 - Feb 11th would like to have a look at it.
The thing that amazes me is that the government taxes water that falls from the sky. If you want to put a dam on your property you have to pay a tax,how f......g ridiculous

It was commissioned in November and here is a link
http://www.watercorporation.com.au/D/desalination.cfm

[coastie]

Rodm;
Thanks for that link,my daughter used to go to Uni. at Rockingham she passed Kwinana on the way so doubtless she would be aware of the exact location