Water Recycling

[Stuart]

Now that I have taken the first steps to the moral high ground, thought a poll on water recycling would be interesting, following on from Ashore's one on flushing.

So the question is: how much recycling do you do?

Multiple choices is possible
You vote is private.

[Shedhand]

You left out a couple. So I couldn't vote.

I never water the lawn in autumn or summer.
I never fill the spa in Summer.
I mulch the garden and only hand water in Summer.

[Schtoo]

We recycle grey water indoors. So much for the private voting, huh?

It's simple enough, and considered a little strange if you don't do it around here. To a point, it's nearly impossible to not recycle a little grey water every day.

Flush the toilet, water runs over the top to wash your hands, which then gets flushed down next time.

We also save the bathwater for washing clothes. Simple enough since the washing machine is 4 feet from the bathtub, the bathwater is clean (no soap at least), the machine has a pump to draw the bathwater and the machine automatically selects clean water to rinse. We need the bath for the little fella, and we use all of that water in clothes washing. Without it, the water bill would be scary.

Washing dishes? Rinse everything qucikly, soap it all up, rinse it all off. Clean dishes, less than half a sink full of water used for rinsing only.

It's just the done thing around here.


I don't like everything the locals do, but occasionally they hit the right solution on the head.

[Grunt]

We've always been water conscious but are going to have to get more so when we move on the block as we'll have to catch all our own water.

[silentC]

We use treated effluent in the toilets and on the gardens. We rely on tank water so we have a good incentive to do something. When you can't just assume that it will never run out like some town folk seem to, it adjusts your attitude to water use.

[Wongo]

We use a container in the shower to collect the cold water. My in-laws next door are doing the same thing.

We keep the kids bath water and use it to flush the toilet.

We don’t water our plants. We let nature looks after them and nature has done a great job so far.

We don’t take showers for longer than 5 minutes, except my niece who I have to keep reminding her over and over again.

The in-laws have 2 water tanks.

[Waldo]

G'day Stuart,

No mention of rainwater tanks in the poll.

Don't ask the Vic Gov' on their stance on this. We won't be building any dams and they're useless until it rains (or words to that effect, as our Dipstick Environment Minister said on the Sunday news a couple of weeks ago), all we think we should do is impliment water restrictions long after we should have started them.

[Stuart]

Hi Waldo,

Sorry - rainwater tanks are implied in the collection, and then how the water is used (house vs garden) The focus was more on what you do, rather than how you do it.

Totally agree with you viewpoint about how it has all been mismanaged to date. We should be in stage 4 now (or worse) and be kept there long after the rains arrive until the dams actually recover, not until they just start filling.

Even rethink the whole immigration thing / country population goals. We can't permanently sustain the current population with the current management strategies. The strategies need changing, and the resources have time to recover, then see what is left over and how many more people that equates to (with a BUFFER for unusual weather conditions!!!)

We don't have any redundancy. What happens if a dam's contents are lost (and one of the big ones here), through contamination (deliberate or otherwise)?

[Grunt]

Yes, population is the killer. In 60-70 years at the current rate, we will have doubled the population. The world is warming up and Melbourne will get less rain. Plainly it's not sustainable.

There are no rivers left to dam unless we want to rob more water from the dying Murray.

If we started with stage 4 water restrictions in November, there would be a huge outcry from the gardeners of Melbourne.

[Stuart]

If we started with stage 4 water restrictions in November, there would be a huge outcry from the gardeners of Melbourne.

True, but at some stage, we are just going to have to bite the bullet. Commercial gardeners need to start looking at techniques used in other countries such as Israel where they accept that water is a limited commodity. Home gardeners need to ensure that their gardens don't impact any more than they have to on the limited resource.

As a nation we have to recognise that we live in a desert country, and the changing climate (temporary or otherwise) is not going to help. If more stringent actions are not taken immediately, the pain suffered trying to change when it is way too late will hurt a lot more.

Even to the point that we should recognise that some things just shouldn't be done in this country - water guzzling industries etc. On a very local scale, don't allow non water efficient equipment to be sold, don't allow open transportation of water (cf pipes), even plants that have high water requirements should be limited, so individuals are not tempted to waste potable water to keep them alive.

[silentC]

Haven't been able to find any info on it but I heard on the news the other night that a document was leaked that talks about introducing a tax on rainwater use. Anyone know anything about it? Was a Fed government thing.

[Grunt]

I agree completely.

Agriculture needs to stop using so much water. Rice and cotton are not things that should be grown in the Murray/Darling basin.

I posted this short Flash documentary in another thread but I think it's worth another look. This is what agriculture should be doing in this country. Jordan

[Grunt]

It was reported but the Federal Water Minister (that rich bloke, can't remember his name) said it was not and will not be on the agenda. As we know, politicians don't lie so we can rest easy,

[Doughboy]

My folks claimed the pitiful tank subsidy from the government and the next year they got a bill from the council for water catchment (I believe this nearly negated the subsidy in one year). Which to my reckoning is their own roof space. I told him to send them a bill for upkeep of catchment area!

Pete

[Waldo]

Haven't been able to find any info on it but I heard on the news the other night that a document was leaked that talks about introducing a tax on rainwater use. Anyone know anything about it? Was a Fed government thing.

G'day SilentC,

It was the headline on the Herald Sun down here, proposed by some stupid boffin.

The proposal: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...rom=public_rss
"Mr Matthews' email continued: "Governments have not yet considered the capture of water from roofs in rainwater tanks to be of sufficient magnitude to warrant the issuing of specific entitlements to use this class of water.

"However, if rainwater tanks were to be adopted on a large scale such that their existence impacts significantly on the integrated water cycle, consideration could be given to setting an entitlement regime for this class of water."

Such a regime already exists for farmers catching rainwater and storing it in dams.

A residential household version could include a licensing arrangement and taxes for those wanting to collect more than a set amount."

THE Federal Government has rejected suggestions it plans to tax rainwater tanks:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...rom=public_rss

THE Federal Government's water reform commission has ruled out any plans to recommend a levy on rainwater collected by the owners of residential tanks:
http://www.news.com.au/business/stor...rom=public_rss

There's just about only one thing that I agree with farmer FIL on, and that is the hide of local gov' ect. to collect a tax/levy on water falling on your own property, then collecting it into your own damn and the water runoff goes no where else but your dam. He can only collect 10% of water either falling onto his land or caught by rooves of dwellings, eg. shed, house etc. !