There has possibly never been a better summer to be water wise than this one when you consider that during January Armidale usually consumes an average of 14 million litres per day. For the last fortnight, the plant operated for 22-24 hours a day as consumption went over 18 million litres per day for the first time since 2005.
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Water consumption is reaching record levels and this, along with the fact that dam levels at Guyra are at 80 per cent capacity and falling at one percent per day, has the Armidale Regional Council reminding everyone to be water wise this summer.
Armidale Regional Council Mayor Simon Murray said Malpas Dam was at 68.6 per cent capacity and falling at 1.25 per cent per week, but thought that demand would fall off as we approached the cooler months.
The community should be starting to think about what they can do to reduce water consumption
- Cr Simon Murray
“So, without any rain, we won’t hit any water restrictions until mid to late-March (triggered when Malpas Dam reaches 60 per cent capacity). Everywhere needs rainfall to fill dams, but we’re in a much more fortunate position,” he said.
“Guyra Dam is falling much more rapidly because it’s smaller, but it was full on Christmas Day. A lot the catchment up there has been receiving some rain so, it’s not like all the surrounding farm dams are empty.
“A lot of the farm dams will have moisture so that when we have rain there will be an inflow into Guyra and then into Malpas.”
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Cr Murray said water restrictions in Guyra would be triggered when the dam reached 70 per cent capacity which was predicted to reach that level in February.
“But, Guyra doesn’t need much rain before it will have an inflow and quickly raise the levels,” he said.
Armidale Regional Council’s service leader Business Units Phillip Perram said the current level of water consumption is a concern.
“Armidale region residents have been very fortunate over the years and have not experienced water shortages and restrictions, but if we keep using water at this rate and don’t receive any meaningful rain in the next couple of months, we will have no choice but to implement restrictions,” said Mr Perram.
In the Armidale region, an average person uses over 200 litres of water per day. In some communities, people have reduced average personal use to 130 litres per day or less.
- Phillip Perr
“We are asking residents to be water wise including limiting the use of sprinklers on lawns and the frequency of watering gardens and take shorter showers. Every little bit helps to conserve water as well as reducing water bills.”
Most household water use is outdoors, watering gardens and lawns. Indoors, the biggest water user is showers and baths.
Ways to reduce your water consumption (and water Bill)
- Water with hoses in the early morning or evening to avoid evatporation.
- Watch the weather forecast. If rain is forecast then let it do the watering.
- Less frequent watering forces plant roots down to find water, making the plants tougher.
- Consider native plants
- Many people overestimate how much water their lawn needs. Grass is shallow rooted and rarely extends more than 25mm into the soil. Any more water than this on your soil is not helping your lawn or your water bill
- Mulch reduces evaporation from soil by up to 70 per cent.
- Three-star rated showerheads use no more than 9 litres of water per minute, while old style showerheads used up to 20 litres. A water efficient showerhead can save up to 50 litres of water for each shower, or up to 20,000 litres of water per person per year.
- Take shorter showers to save water and money!
- The laundry consumes15-20 per cent of water in the home, so, only wash full loads
- Look out for the WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards) label.
- Water is wasted due to leaking pipes and dripping taps so fix them now.
