Residential water use in Darwin households is the lowest it has ever been, according to data from Power and Water Corporation, as more people value tap water as a precious resource.
Last financial year, Darwin residential water customers used an average of 359,000 litres, per household, per year compared to 450,000 litres a decade ago.
“This represents a drop in per capita water use of 30 per cent, which is a really strong result,” Manager Water Demand Jethro Laidlaw said.
“We believe our messages and the assistance we provide to people for them to become water smart are working well - attitudes are changing. We also had a good wet season last year, with 1.9m of rainfall.”
Darwin River Dam, the main water catchment for Darwin, is currently at 75 per cent.
Mr Laidlaw said Power and Water’s Living Water Smart program and its initiatives, including high user water audits, the That’s My Water! schools program, rebate services, smart metering and data loggers and working with other government sectors on green space irrigation also contributed to the decline in overall water use.
The Living Water Smart program has been running since 2014 and has helped save 6GL, or 6 billion litres, of water a year.
“Since the program started, we have seen people’s behaviours and attitudes towards water change,” Mr Laidlaw said.
“While there is still a perception we have lots of rain, and therefore, lots of water, people are realising it is precious and finite, and we can all take small steps to save water.
Mr Laidlaw said Top Enders had made excellent progress in reducing their water use but still had some way to go.
“On average, most of Australia uses around 200,000 litres per connection, per year,” he said.
“We can all play a part to reduce our water use by checking for and fixing leaks at home, taking shorter showers and turning the tap off while brushing our teeth.
“Most of our water use is in the garden.
“As we move into the wet season, I encourage people to turn off their irrigation, or keep an eye on how much rain their suburb has received through the Darwin Weather Web and adjust your watering accordingly.”
The Darwin Weather Web is a network of weather stations at our schools. It can help people make water-smart choices about watering their garden based on how much rain has fallen in their suburb. Find out more at www.livingwatersmart.com.au/weatherweb
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