Conservation of water(another one)

[nomis7]

Hey guys,

Now I know there has been a lot of threads on the “conversation of water”, “government rebates” but what im wondering is what do you guys think is the key getting through to people not to use water? I mean I still see idiots hosing driveways, watering in the middle of the day how can we stop these silly people? Also during my week of work I noticed the council watering there plants” between islands, roundabouts etc I also saw builders watering down there work site in the middle of they day are they using recycled water or do they get permits for things such as this?


Which also brings me to council rebate; I think the council should give a better rebate on water tanks which will encourage more people to buy ey? and with these new energy savings globes coming in to play I recon the government should start giving rebates on solar panels that way no green emitions are being emitted right and everyone would like free energy right?(after you pay them off)

Please feel free to delete or move I just felt the need to post it up (I thought it was different)


Cheers:)

[Chalkie]

Conversation or Conservation?... or did I entirely miss the point?

watering in the middle of the day how can we stop these silly people?

Simple, dob them into the hotline. Well actually, ask them why they are doing it as they MAY have a legitimate reason. If they're still a knob about it make sure the council gives them a hefty fine.

I also saw builders watering down there work site in the middle of they day are they using recycled water or do they get permits for things such as this

Not entirely sure on the specifics of it, but I would imagine they have permits. I suppose they can't have tons of dust being blown around in suburban areas..?

[bulllet]

I also saw builders watering down there work site in the middle of they day are they using recycled water or do they get permits for things such as this?
Cheers:)


yeah most builders will have a water use permit allowing them to use water for specific needs. Also as far as i am aware recycled water is useable for anything BUT drinking.

[nomis7]

yeah most builders will have a water use permit allowing them to use water for specific needs. Also as far as i am aware recycled water is useable for anything BUT drinking.

ohh ok,
fair enough but it should only be useable at night i mean during the middle of the day is just gets evaporated ey?:o

[Shorty40]

ohh ok,
fair enough but it should only be useable at night i mean during the middle of the day is just gets evaporated ey?:o

You must be Canadian ey ?

[kyleman]

how can we stop these silly people?
Call the water police....seriously..they exist.

[Simo]

writting an essay on this at the moment that's 60% of a 2nd year uni mark.

Water tanks are only usefull once it starts raining again...they will only help to safeguard us for the future, not help right now.
Everyone thinks they are saving water but really how much do you as an individual save in one day compared to how you used to live?
Will you dob people in, even if it is a neighbour, close friend etc?
What is the government going to do to create a major paradigm shift amongst not only individuals but industry?
How do we get industry on board, seriously onboard, not just going for token improvements which they, in-turn use for marketing purposes?
What do we do if we reach critically low water storage levels in a capital city?
Why was the issue ignoreed for so long?
What can we learn from those in more rural areas who have been living with much worse effects of the drought for much longer?
How long will our "water wise" ways last? People think the problem will be solved with some good rain here and there, it will take years of above average rainfall to re-fill out water storage areas.
--->will the water issue become the climate change issue all over again (ie: climate change was popularised in the early 90's to a scale similar to today, faded away and came back swinging in the last few years once the drought made they effects tangible and relevant to most of society).

As you can see this issue raises more and more questions as you go further into it...good luck in trying to figure that one out! I guess we can all do our best (and our bit) and hope for the best (from nature and the powers that be).

[sxereturn]

Like normal, the government is piss arsing around, regulating the group of water users who have the least amount of impact and trying to convince us it will have an impact. In the mean time, they are constructing a useless dam that will bring endemic, native species to extinction and letting big corporations get away with wasting billions of litres of water.

And everyone buys it!

[NeBoS]

Like normal, the government is piss arsing around, regulating the group of water users who have the least amount of impact and trying to convince us it will have an impact. In the mean time, they are constructing a useless dam that will bring endemic, native species to extinction and letting big corporations get away with wasting billions of litres of water.

And everyone buys it!


Although i agree that we the household users are not the biggest fish when it comes to water usage, i totally disagree that we cannot make a difference. Until more sustainable advances occur in farming (and energy production, it seems), water is required. In fact, you would be surprised at the amount of water some homes use (some up to 50,000 litres per week!).


Back on topic, my idiot brother hoses his car everyday. Yes, he's a geeky poser, and im going to dob him in soon.

[Big_Al]

I have just gotten back from cadet camp at singleton army base
The company i am in is the 'elite' company of the unit.. we get to do really sweet stuff and we have no new recruits

We had a lot of walking to do 10 k's minium each day and had to cary 2 litres or water all the time. We would run out of water walking and sometimes not have any for a while at our desination.. Camp made me realise just how IMPORTANT water is and what it should be used for. We didnt have much water most time and when we had it we used it for drinking only

[toodles]

Like normal, the government is piss arsing around, regulating the group of water users who have the least amount of impact and trying to convince us it will have an impact. In the mean time, they are constructing a useless dam that will bring endemic, native species to extinction and letting big corporations get away with wasting billions of litres of water.

And everyone buys it!

You are aware residential use accounts for 70% of total water use. And that businesses are still being required to reduce their total usage by at least 25% or be fined. In fact, commercial users are facing their third price increase in 18 months whereas domestic users are still whining they can't water their geraniums and wash their cars.

Big businesses are spending massive money on water saving equipment and resources and have made massive cutbacks (ie. Coca Cola QLD is using 50% less water per litre of coke produced than the worldwide average). Breweries in SE QLD are close to world's best practise in regards to water use. Yet households are still above average in comparison to other countries in the same economic band.

[nomis7]

You are aware residential use accounts for 70% of total water use. And that businesses are still being required to reduce their total usage by at least 25% or be fined. In fact, commercial users are facing their third price increase in 18 months whereas domestic users are still whining they can't water their geraniums and wash their cars.

Big businesses are spending massive money on water saving equipment and resources and have made massive cutbacks (ie. Coca Cola QLD is using 50% less water per litre of coke produced than the worldwide average). Breweries in SE QLD are close to world's best practise in regards to water use. Yet households are still above average in comparison to other countries in the same economic band.

It's great to see business’s do there bit, but if you look at it from a business’s point of view they are the ones looked a. If they don’t do something the law will follow them up, people with houses tend to break the rules and the government doesn’t seem to care as much. People are doing this secretly and getting away with it, i recon water penalties should be allot more harsh so people don’t try and scheme the system:o

[cam-o]

Regarding tanks, part of the problem is the red tape acssociated with claiming any rebates.
I recently installed a 2200l tank at a cost of roughly a grand. My plan is to gradually increase my tank capacity around the house to 10,000 litres. This is mainly because I quite like the idea of my kids being able to kick a footy in the back yard without being ripped to shreds by the barren dust dowl that was once grass.

In the ACT my 2200l tank entitles me to a rebate of roughly $300. However in order to claim that rebate I must have the tank plumbed into my grey water and inspected by a licenced plumber, plus a number of other hassles.
bottom line is in order to claim my $300, I need to spend an additional $600-700! :eek:

Why bother?

Another thing that sh!ts me, I recently replaced my washing machine with a significantly more expensive front loader, saving roughly 100 litres per wash. The water saving was a major factor in my decision. In NSW that earns you a rebate. ACT, Noooo!

In my experience Govt's rattle on about being environmentally responsible, however generally don't back up thier claims in any meaningful way.

[LotteBum]

My observation is that when the price of something increases, demand decreases. Take fuel, for instance. I'm fairly sure we're using less fuel than ever before due to the price hikes over the last few years.

If the price of water increases substantially, not to mention the fines for breach of restrictions, the same thing is likely to happen.

[leitch]

Regarding tanks, part of the problem is the red tape acssociated with claiming any rebates.
I recently installed a 2200l tank at a cost of roughly a grand. My plan is to gradually increase my tank capacity around the house to 10,000 litres. This is mainly because I quite like the idea of my kids being able to kick a footy in the back yard without being ripped to shreds by the barren dust dowl that was once grass.

In the ACT my 2200l tank entitles me to a rebate of roughly $300. However in order to claim that rebate I must have the tank plumbed into my grey water and inspected by a licenced plumber, plus a number of other hassles.
bottom line is in order to claim my $300, I need to spend an additional $600-700! :eek:

Why bother?

Another thing that sh!ts me, I recently replaced my washing machine with a significantly more expensive front loader, saving roughly 100 litres per wash. The water saving was a major factor in my decision. In NSW that earns you a rebate. ACT, Noooo!

In my experience Govt's rattle on about being environmentally responsible, however generally don't back up thier claims in any meaningful way.

one thing i will say here is, do you really think that your motivation for installing water tanks, front loading washing machines, etc should be the rebate?

surely the cash saving that you will make as a result of having installed such water saving features resulting in using less town water will mean that by reducing your water bill, these expensive initial outlays will in the end pay for themselves? you may not get your couple of hundred dollar government rebate for your washing machine, but im sure at 100L per wash you will have made a saving much more than that $300 in not a long time.

[cam-o]

one thing i will say here is, do you really think that your motivation for installing water tanks, front loading washing machines, etc should be the rebate?


Absolutely agree with you. When I purchased both the tank and the machine I knew full well there would be no rebate and it didn't overly bother me. I fully intend to do more as well, i.e more tanks, more dripper systems, I am even considering replacing some of my grass with softfall rubber.

I guess there are 2 main points to my argument.

1) I am fortunate enough to be on a pretty decent salary, so the extra money isn't really an issue. There are many people out there though who aren't so fortunate and will continue to use more water because they can't afford the efficient gadgets or tanks. It's a vicious cycle, you can't afford the flash gizmos, so you pay more for your water. Particularly with the washing machine, young families who can't spend the extra 3-400 for a decent front loader do a LOT of washing and it will add up.

2) The ACT government (like many others) are constantly telling us to use less water and pointing to rebate schemes to show how wondeful they are, yet try to access such schemes? Good luck. The cycnic in me says they are deliberately engineered to generate good press whilst not actually spending the money to deliver on the promise.

Green products and practices are expensive. It seems that like so many things these days, conservation is great......if you can afford it.

[arpit]

My observation is that when the price of something increases, demand decreases. Take fuel, for instance. I'm fairly sure we're using less fuel than ever before due to the price hikes over the last few years.

If the price of water increases substantially, not to mention the fines for breach of restrictions, the same thing is likely to happen.



The price of water will not increase substantially.
Comparisons between water and fuel are flawed. I die if I don't drink water. I don't die if I can't drive my car around.


Universal access to clean water is crucial.

If the price of water were increased to such a degree as to dissuade people from watering their gardens, Australia would effectively turn into a third world country. See, people with gardens are rich. The requisite price increase would be large.

It would make water too expensive for poor people. When poor people can't get clean water, they'll get dirty water. When poor people drink dirty water, they become sick poor people. That's bad.

In Nigeria, many problems exist because of lack of access to clean water. DO we really want to make Australia like Nigeria?

THe price of water will not increase substatntially. If supply decreases and price increases, the government will increase supply and introduce subsidies. Desalination plants, Dams, Bores, and Recycling plants are all designed to increase supply.

[toodles]

The price of water will not increase substantially.
Comparisons between water and fuel are flawed. I die if I don't drink water. I don't die if I can't drive my car around.


Universal access to clean water is crucial.

If the price of water were increased to such a degree as to dissuade people from watering their gardens, Australia would effectively turn into a third world country. See, people with gardens are rich. The requisite price increase would be large.

It would make water too expensive for poor people. When poor people can't get clean water, they'll get dirty water. When poor people drink dirty water, they become sick poor people. That's bad.

In Nigeria, many problems exist because of lack of access to clean water. DO we really want to make Australia like Nigeria?

THe price of water will not increase substatntially. If supply decreases and price increases, the government will increase supply and introduce subsidies. Desalination plants, Dams, Bores, and Recycling plants are all designed to increase supply.

What the f*ck?

The price of water will triple within 2 years - we know that already. Secondly, yeah you need water to live - about 4 litres a day. Now given water prices currently range from 81c to 1.23c per 1000 litres I don't think we're going to see people dying in the street for lack of affordable water...

[Dozer]

Every single drop counts and people should always keep that in mind. Always.
There is so many little things that we can do to save some water and you'll be very conscious of that when you do turn the tap on.
-Turn the tap off while you're brushing your teeth.
-Jump in the shower, get wet, turn the taps off, put your soap on....clean your dirty self, turn the tap back on to wash it off.
-Use a broom to clean the driveway or back BBW area or bike workshop.
-Wash your car or bike or dog on the lawn so the water is being put to good use.
-First person in the house to get up runs the dishwashing water, wash your own dishes in the morning in the same water.
-Piss on the garden when you get home from a drunken evening.....you'd be amazed at how many plants actually thrive from being fed urine (some will die though!).
-Keep your grey water from the washing machine and chuck it on the garden or wash your bike with it.
There is plenty of things that we can all do and it does help the water crisis. I do all of the above (mostly pissing on the plants) and I feel good about myself knowing that the next time I have to wash my car I have done a little bit elsewhere to warrant some water for washing my silver bullet.

One thing that bugs me is sitting on the beach watching all of the fresh water running out to sea after a big shower of rain. Yeah...the water is good for the sea but surely the power makers could devise a plan that traps the water somewhere central in each town (coastal towns only by the way) and stores it for use in other things. When the water is at a high level it spills into an over flow area which runs into the sea.........It sounds simple and the water that is saved from running into the ocean could be put to good use somewhere.
Without water we die.....everything will die, lets look after it.;)

[siz]

These units suck from the system big time!

I'd say 25'000ltrs a day would not be uncommon:eek:
Cut down to 12500ltrs with massive costs involved.
Big business has to comply.


I'm doing my bit for recycling...why just this morning i filled the coffee urn in my own special way!!!:eek: :D

[TonyG]

What the f*ck?

The price of water will triple within 2 years - we know that already. Secondly, yeah you need water to live - about 4 litres a day. Now given water prices currently range from 81c to 1.23c per 1000 litres I don't think we're going to see people dying in the street for lack of affordable water...

I totally agree, we should be lifting prices now. I believe nearly all houses could easily reduce there water usage significantly. I don’t know this for a fact but I had been lead to believe that the cost of water is heavily subsidised by tax dollars. The only users who are contributing on a scale to their usage are the commercial users. Water should be moved to a user pays scenario. If use it you should pay for it, and I bet a penny to pound this would make a lot if domestic users pull in their usage pretty quick.

[EastsideZero]

Winter is coming, i'll be back to 15 minute showers.
As long as my daughters school hoses the concrete every afternoon and the local franchises of the multi-national fast food joints have permits to hose down there forecourts because it's cheaper for them to hose than it is to pay someone minimum wage to spend 10 minutes washing it with a mop i refuse to have shorter showers.
I have two cars, in the last 5 months they have probably been washed 2 times each at the local car wash, at about $12 a shot. I cant use a hose to wash them at home i have to use a bucket, what a crock of shit! It takes me heaps more water using a bucket!
I want to know who are these tossers leaving the tap running while they are brushing thier teeth? Who leaves the hose running while they are sponging the car down? All the building sites i see around where i work are getting thier water from unmetered standpipes.
The public are being railroaded! Stupid Sydney water pipelines leak more water than we can collectively save every day.

Charging more for water is going to hurt the poor more than anyone else 'cos they cant afford to go out and buy a new washing machine or a dishwasher.

I do however wait 'til i have a full load af washing to do, I don't fill the sink to wash 2 plates and a couple of forks, I dont wash things that are destined for the recycling bin. Yeah great logic that, wash empty jars and tins to throw them out!

I see people hosing thier driveways and watering thier lawns every day of the week, in NSW there is no dob in a waster hotline, a mate tried to report his neighbour for hosing the driveway and was told there was nothing that could be done unless an officer caught them ib n the act!

We should just build a desalination plant and be done with it,why in hell are we waiting for the dams to drop below a certain level? At least that way we would have a head start an securing a supply of water for the future. People whine about the cost, but they all look up in awe everytime we burn millions of dollars worth of fireworks to celebrate New Years Eve or our councils spend money on lighting up our cities with fancy lights for Xmas. Maybe we should get our priorities right.

[AngoXC]

Kinda on the topic but riding this afternoon, we saw an Instant Lawn water tanker parked beside a dam down one of our favourite fire tracks...never seen anything more sus!