It's great to see businesses tackle environmental issues in new and innovative ways.  Ripple Products manages to combine form and function with their array of water saving products.

Ripple specialising in products that align themselves with educational and environmental messages. The range of products available from Ripple Products includes various styles of Digital Shower Timers, Sand Timers, Water-saving Buckets and Enviro-tips.

Recent accolades include winning the 2007 Telstra Business Awards - Victorian Australian Government Micro Business Award and the 2007 Telstra Business Women's Awards - Victorian Australian Government Innovation Award. Australian Anthill Magazine also recognized Ripple Products by being placed in their 2007 Top 50 'Cool Company Awards' also winning their Flying Solo Award for success in business.

Check out the Ripple Products website for more info.

In this day and age of environmental awareness I find it difficult to swallow the Vicrtorian governments conviction that large scale desalination plants are the best solution to our water crisis.  Converting salt water to fresh water by means of a desalination plant plant is a highly inefficient way of creating fresh water.

High energy use and consequent high greenhouse gas emissions are the major issue with desalination that need to be addressed. A plant similar to Perth's, even with energy recovery capability, will consume about 24 megawatts of electricity to produce about 45 gigalitres of water per year. This represents about 185,000 megawatt hours of energy per year. - Desalination Report

According to an Environment Victoria report, rainwater tanks are five times more energy efficient than desalination plants, and if fitted to all suitable houses in Melbourne could save up to 84 billion liters of water a year.

Professor Pat Troy's book titles "Troubled Waters", writes that mandatory rainwater tanks, greywater recycling and drycomposting toilets in all new homes would cut potable water use in those homes by 70%.

Personally I agree with making water tanks mandatory in all new homes in Melbourne and Victoria and hope that the Victorian governement decides to put these measures in place before buidling a desalination plant.

We recently launched Australia's fist Rain Water Tanks Directory website.  The Water Tanks Directory currently list water tank suppliers in most major Australian capital cities including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. If you're looking to install a rain water tank in your home, check out the water tank directory for your nearest rain water tank supplier.