Think climate change. Be waterwise.

Indian ocean

How Perth's water sources have changed over time

Climate change has dramatically affected where we get our water from. Because rainfall is unpredictable, we now have a growing reliance on more energy-intensive and expensive, rainfall-independent drinking water sources. This includes desalinated seawater - water from the Indian Ocean with salt and impurities removed. There are fluctuations in our water source mix year to year, depending on how much rainwater we get. But, on average, Perth has relied on desalinated seawater over the past 5 years for around half of its drinking water supply. This is expected to increase in the future.

Outage homepage promo image

Stay informed about outages impacting you

Get water supply alerts delivered to your phone or email and stay informed about outages affecting your home or business, including outage times and when your water is back on.

Sign up for alerts
Perth water supply map

Adapting our water supply to climate change

Ever wondered how climate change has affected our water supply?

Find out more

Monthly Streamflow

2023

- GL

Year to date

Historical *

- GL

Avg year to date

Difference

-

- GL

Years of declining rainfall means less water flowing into your dams.

* Average monthly streamflow between 1911 - 1974

VIEW MORE STREAMFLOW DATA

Latest updates

VIEW ALL ARTICLES

26 Nov 2023, AWST 10:30 | Incident Update

Bushfire update – City of Wanneroo and City of Swan

Water Corporation is working to support emergency services battling bushfires in Perth's north.

  • Perth
  • Service alert
22 Nov 2023, AWST 12:39 | Incident Update

Bridge closure - Forestry Road, Uduc, Shire of Harvey

Bridge 3716 on Forestry Road in Uduc has been temporarily closed to all traffic by Main Roads for emergency repairs.

  • Service alert
  • South West
  • Community
20 Oct 2023 | Update

Embedding waterwise thinking into everything we do

Our highly successful Waterwise Cities Program, which began in 2018, will now be transitioned into our core business.

  • Waterwise
  • Perth

Social stream