Some interesting figures on the amount of water in takes to produce daily consumable items. I'm naturally devastated that two of my greatest gastronomical indulgences are on this list:
- Hamburger - 2,400 Litres
- Cotton T-shirt - 2,000 L
- Cup of coffee - 140 L
- Slice of bread - 90 L
- Glass of beer - 75 L
Source http://www.waterfootprint.org/
The savewater!® Alliance works with member water businesses, government agencies and product companies to deliver water conservation programs throughout Australia. The savewater! awards® recognise outstanding achievements and innovation in water conservation by businesses, government, schools, local communities and individuals.
The 2006/07 winners of the awards include:
- Coles Group Limited - The new $5 million, two story extension of Target's head office in Geelong is more than an aesthetically pleasing building: its 1600 square metre roof is used to capture stormwater that is fed and stored in 16 tanks positioned beneath the building. Read more
- Hume City Council - Hume City Council is set to save more than 70ML of potable water per year through initiatives that maintain existing assets and plan for a sustainable future. This saving equates to around 28 Olympic sized swimming pools. Read more.
- Quenos Altona - Qenos continues to improve water efficient practices at its Altona-based plants, saving 1.2 billion litres of water per year compared to 2002 consumption. During 2005/2006, it saved a further 730ML – or 292 Olympic sized swimming pools* – by upgrading three significant processes. Read more
See all the category winners here.
South East Queensland's recent introduction of Stage 5 water restrictions should be a wakeup call for the rest of the country. Stage 5 water restrictions include:
- Gardens - only water existing gardens with buckets or watering cans on allocated days between 4pm–7pm. You can use tank or grey water at anytime.
- Vehicles - only use a bucket to spot clean mirrors, lights, glass and number plates
- Pools - From 1 July, only top up existing swimming pools from town water as a last resort and only where a rainwater tank or downpipe rainwater diverter is fitted and the premises complies with three of the following - a swimming pool cover, water efficient taps and showerheads, water efficient toilets, water efficient washing machine
- New or renovated pools - may only be filled with water sourced from areas not under Level 5 restrictions (ie brought in by truck)
- High water users – must submit a water use assessment form to audit their water use and identify saving opportunities.
Courtesy of the Qld Water Commission Stage 5 restriction guide.
Here's some interesting water facts and stats you may not be aware of:
- Australia's rainfall is the lowest of all continents in the world (excluding Antarctica). Despite this, Australia has one of the highest per capita water consumption rates in the world.
- While two thirds of all the people on Earth use less than 60 litres of water a day, the average Australian uses more than twice that amount during a single shower.
- If everybody in metropolitan Melbourne cut just 1% of their yearly water consumption, there would be enough water saved to fill 2,500 Olympic size swimming pools.
- As of the time of writing:
- Sydney's available water storage is approximately 38%
- Melbourne water storage levels are at approximately 30%
- Brisbane water storage levels are at approximately 20.5%
- Perth water storage levels at approx 21.3%
- Our major cities are on the following water restrictions:
- CSIRO modelling predicts that global warming will cut future rainfall in southern Australia by up to 20 per cent.
- A 4 minute shower uses approximately 35 Litres of water. 7 showers per week per year adds up to around 13,100 Litres of water for each person in the household.
Over 2,000 people across Australia eager to save water have risen to ABC Radio's challenge of using just 40 litres of water in 40 hours, with around three-quarters successfully staying below the lean quota.
Read more about the hugely successful 40 litres in 40 hours challenge.
The CHW water level meter tells a sorry tale for water storage in the Ballarat region in Victoria. As of the writing of this post , the water level is at 12.6% of capacity. Other local regions aren't doing much better.
CHW are doing plenty do reduce water usage in the region. Project Aquarius has been setup to replace 5000 homes with water saving devices such as shower heads and tap fittings.
