Living Water Smart in Alice The challenges we face Hard place to - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Living Water Smart in Alice

The challenges we face

Entrenched water hungry customers

• High proportion renters and others

not paying water bills directly

• No millennium drought
• Relatively high pressure and TDS

Hard place to have a garden

Alice Springs

• 28,000 serviced population – top 3 in Australia
• Avg annual water and sewerage bill $1950 ($800 sewerage, $300

Connection, $850 water)

• Last 5 yrs AS avg total water supplied 7.6GL (previous 5yrs 8.2GL)

100 200 300 400 500 kL/yr

Avg Residential Water Supplied 2016-17

(kL/property)

100 200 300 400 500 600 kL/yr

Avg Annual Residential Water Supplied

(kL/property)

Water Efficiency – Every one knows…

• Native plants good
• Front loader washing machines good
• Drippers good
• Irrigating in day time bad
• Reducing lawn is good
• Water tanks good
• Mulch is good
• Short showers good
• Pools bad
• Teenagers bad
• Dual-flush toilets good
• Native plants good
• Front loader washing machines good
• Drippers good
• Irrigating in day time bad
• Reducing lawn is good
• Water tanks good
• Mulch is good
• Short showers good
• Pools bad
• Teenagers bad
• Dual-flush toilets good

Demand Management in Alice

11% 7% 4% 3% 4% 4% 11% 56% Shower (11%) Air conditioner (7%) Toilet (4%) Washing machine (3%) Indoor other (4%) Pool (4%) Leaks (11%) Garden (56%)

Gardens, 56% Leaks, 25% Bathrooms, 12%

• Evap. AC, 4%

Pools, 2% Laundries, 1% Kitchens, <1%

Alice Water Smart survey data (2013)

• 6% knew the current price of water in Alice Springs
• 2% knew that there was approximately 300-400

years of water supply left in Alice Springs’ current water supply aquifer

Commercial 21% Govt 23% Residential 56%

Alice Springs Sector Use

(Total - 8,300ML)

Irrigation

Seasonally adjust : Lawns = 25 to 40mm/wk, water 10 to

20mm twice as week in summer but only 10 to 20mm twice a month in winter Holds true for most other plant types

Irrigation pt. 2

• Water longer less often
• Handle the pressure
• Walk the lines
• Pick the right plants,

mulch, water after dark

Leaks

• In Alice Water Smart 1 in 3 houses found

to have a leak of approx. 240kL/annum or 80kL/house

Looking forward and looking back

• Water efficient standards for new

dwellings, schools, parks

• Policy to make water efficiency

BAU

• Water Sensitive Urban Design
• Irrigator certification
• Rebates and retrofits
• Audits of high users
• Behaviour change program

What we’re doing in Darwin

Confidence in achieving targets:

• Strong government

savings component in program

• Monthly reporting,

annual review, climate corrected production monitoring

Does it work?…

Summary

• DM in Alice doesn’t have to be hard work
• Technology has come a long way and is very promising
• Regional and sector specific
• 40 water meters use almost 25% of all water supplied
• Irrigation and leaks low hanging fruit

08 8995 5861 livingwatersmart.com.au info@livingwatersmart.com.au livingwatersmart livewatersmart livingwatersmartdarwin

Questions