BigBlog

Target 155 is a good start to addressing Victoria’s immediate water shortage, but how do you reduce your water consumption?  

Victoria’s Minister of Water, Tim Holding tells us to have shorter showers, but that is mission impossible if, like us, you have teenage children.  Much easier to let the kids spend the same time under the shower, but reduce the water flow, so that they use less water.  

The simplest way to do that is to turn the meter tap down a bit - that has the added bonus of cutting water waste down elsewhere. Our water usage has dropped by over half from our pre-low-flow days. We saved $45 on our last quarterly water bill, and smashed the target 155 goal thanks to lower flows! 

Yet Tim Holding, Victoria’s battle-scarred water minister, is still refusing to acknowledge that using the water meter tap to reduce your household water flow is a good way of saving water!

It looks like Holding hates to admit he got it wrong. After ridiculing my suggestion earlier this year, it was then recognized by the National Savewater award judges as a “simple and care free water saving solution”. You can track the Government’s failure to respond to the “Turn The Tap Down” (3TD) water saving method through the articles by The Age journalists, Ken Davidson and Lawrence Money, 2, 3, 4 & 5 (click on their names & the numbers for their articles, or go to the 3TD website).  

For all those that have have supported the 3TD approach - a little official recognition!

Last week, the National Savewater Award judges recognized the importance of the 3TD water saving method, declaring it the winner in the category of community action for water saving. See http://www.savewater.com.au/programs-and-events/savewater-awards/2008-awards-winners/community-action

They stated that "Andrew's simple and care-free water conservation solution is a measure which could potentially be broadly implemented." For more see http://www.3tdwatersaver.org/page15.php

 Now its back to earth and on with my job, but I did find time to pen off one more letter to the Victorian papers. It was inspired by the great water saving example of South East Queenslanders.

Here in Victoria we are walking like lambs to the slaughter, embracing water desalination as the solution to unlimited water, even though it will double water charges, and lead to further price hikes for water as the new carbon trading regime kicks in. Queensland (see below) has shown us a much better short-term solution. In the long term, better use of irrigation water, new dams, and increased water efficiency, will all play a part.

All for now, Andrew.

Tough love for water users. 

Thanks to draconian water restrictions, Brisbane households have halved their water consumption. This was a tough political decision driven by necessity, and it riled a lot of Brisbane residents. But it worked. The Brisbane daily average through 2007 was 128 litres per person as opposed to Melbourne's 277 litres per person (Peter Ker, The Age).  

Now for the killer! As a result of good rains, Brisbane’s water crisis is over and restrictions have been eased, but Brisbane residents have continued to consume just 122 litres per person per day! Queensland Water Commission CEO John Bradley described the result as “staggering” and commented that “water saving has become a way of life” (Bradley's comments here).

Translated to Melbourne, halving our domestic water consumption would produce savings of approximate 133 gigalitres per annum - close to the amount of water produced by the proposed desalination plant, and more than enough to allow water restriction exemptions for key parks and football grounds while still retaining a surplus for refilling our storages.  In Victoria we have all seen the effect of mandatory fines for speeding. Likewise, Queensland has demonstrated that enforcing tough water restrictions is a simple, cost free road to changing our water habits.  

A letter to the local paper that did not get published - inspired by the unusual sound of rain drumming on the roof.

 Save in times of plenty

The latest rain is a welcome relief for Melbourne gardens, however summer is not far away, and water reserves remain low. The Government’s preoccupation with big budget plans that will deliver water in three or four year’s time should not cause it to neglect the simple house-keeping tasks that will save water now. 

The simplest way to cut back winter heating bills is to adjust the central heating down a few notches and wear warmer clothes. Likewise, in summer, we all know that we can slash air-conditioning costs by not setting the temperature too low. The same goes with water; instead of leaving the water meter stop-tap turned fully on, wind it back a notch. The Government promotes its plumbing subsidies and shower nozzle exchange schemes, yet ignores this simple water-saving measure that takes only a moment and costs nothing.  

When this idea was raised with Water Minister, Tim Holding, it was mocked (“Seems it was not such a wet idea” May 9, The Age). Should we trust the Minister to manage billion dollar projects if he cannot take the simple steps that will save water now for the drier months ahead?

The 3td water saving method (see http://www.3tdwatersaver.org/) has received national recognition with the selection of Andrew Dawson as a finalist in the Community Action section of 2008 savewater! awards. My thanks go to all those who have been supporting this easy and cost-free approach to water saving - especially those who have been putting it into practice!

"A judging panel consisting of 45 water experts from all over Australia have announced the 37 finalists, from over 800 entries, to be recognised for their outstanding water saving achievements in the National 2008 savewater! awards®.

The prestigious savewater! awards® has emerged as the leading water sustainability awards in Australia and are a way in which we can recognise and reward water saving stars for their achievements." Read more at http://www.savewater.com.au/index.php?sectionid=211

News continues to arrive of people saving water and money through the simple act of turning down their water meter stop tap. Congratulations to BW's household for dropping their household water consumption by one third - a nice little financial saving as well as making our water reserves go further. Congratulations also to K for dropping your water use to 90 litres per person per day. If every one in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane etc. followed your example we would be able to defer or scrap plans for expensive water desalination plants!! 

Cheers, Andrew.

On the same day that we are told the Murray is near dead, Andrew Bolt advocates taking water from Gippsland rivers. http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_new_leaks_from_brumbys_water_plans/

 In the 70s Melbourne tried the same trick, but its move to dam the Latrobe River was blocked by the then powerful Latrobe Valley based power industry unions. The Government then did a deal with Gippsland irrigators and split the proceeds from a new dam proposed for the once mighty Thompson River. Everyone made a profit – except the environment (I also profited from the project, operating a jack-hammer for the construction company building the dam). Thompson flood waters that once flushed out the Gippsland lakes now go to Melbourne. 

Lake systems are like toilets, they need a regular flush, and if we pipe all of Gippsland’s river flood water to Melbourne the lakes will be a stagnant cess pool. Andrew and some of his admirers want to dam the Mitchell - so that they can have unrestricted supplies of water and keep their lawns green. Thanks to this kind of mentality the Murray river has been reduced to a sick trickle, and the Gippsland lakes are now suffering - not yet dead like the Murray, but sick.  

There are no quick and easy solutions to the water needs of cities, just painful choices. The least painful choice is more efficient use of water - use less water and we don't need the desalination plant or the dam. In our house we have dropped our water use by over a half without any water saving devices or new plumbing - just by turning the meter stop down to lower flow levels.  

This is a solution that the Gov & water utilities don't want you discover, as their billion dollar water industry is based upon the idea of growing the demand for expensive water, not shrinking their revenue base. For more information about saving water by turning the tap down go to http://www.3tdwatersaver.org/

Andrew Dawson