Household water consumption - Kalgoorlie-Boulder
2343. Hon Alison Xamon to the Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Water
I refer to the recent publication by the National Water Commission, ‘National Performance Report 2008-2009: urban water utilities’. In 2005-06 the average consumption per household in Kalgoorlie-Boulder was 366 kilolitres. In 2008-09 the average was 359 kilolitres. Over the same period other major cities have reduced their consumption by on average, 23 percent. Brisbane reduced household consumption by 48.4 percent, and I ask —
(1) Why has consumption for Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s households decreased by two percent, while the Government is proceeding with expensive and polluting desalination plants to increase Kalgoorlie- Boulder’s supply?
(2) What is the Government doing to strongly drive down per capita water consumption?
Hon HELEN MORTON replied:
(1) A key consideration is that the other States have all been subject to total sprinkler bans during this period, and in some cases, complete outside watering bans, which will artificially lower consumption on a temporary basis. These restrictions have now been relaxed in some cities and consumption is expected to increase. The Water Corporation has been able to manage the State's water supply without the need for such harsh restrictions.
Kalgoorlie is subject to extreme dry weather conditions, with an average summer maximum temperature in excess of 32 degrees. In 1996, the Water Corporation completed a project that made Kalgoorlie the first Waterwise city in Australia. This project included retrofitting in both domestic & non-domestic situations and resulted in reduction of the total of water supplied to the city by an average of 7 per cent. In addition to this the Water Corporation's water efficiency initiatives have further reduced household water usage from 377 kilolitres in 2000-2001 to 359 kilolitres in 2008-2009, a reduction of 5 per cent. Further to this, according to the National Water Commission, 'National Performance Report 2008-2009, Kalgoorlie-Boulder ranks among the top five in terms of percentage of effluent recycled among utilities with between 10 000 and 20 000 connected properties nationally.
(2) The two day per week sprinkler roster in Perth and the Southern area of Western Australia, and the alternate day roster in the rest of Western Australia, is now part of Western Australia's permanent Water Efficiency Measures, rather than a temporary restriction. These permanent measures are the strongest across Australia and receive greater than 90 per cent support from the Western Australian community. In addition to the permanent Water Efficiency Measures, the Water Corporation is set to implement its newly developed Regional Water Efficiency Strategies, which have drawn on the lessons of a number of residential and non-residential behavioural change and retrofit trials and pilots over the last few years. As a result, the State is in the enviable position of implementing a well-considered, long-term approach to water efficiency.