Metropolitan region weekly water update data as at 7 December 2017

Note: 1 billion litres = 1 Subiaco Oval filled to the goalposts

With the summer holiday season approaching it is the perfect time for us to visit friends and family.  Many of us spend a lot of time outdoors and away from home, so it’s important to check sprinklers are set to your watering days so they are operating at the correct times and days when we are away.

If you are planning to be away for an extended period of time, we recommend you arrange for someone to visit your home regularly to water the garden, check on security and read the water meter.  This will identify any unusual water use and avoid any unexpected water use when you return.

Did you know Perth households are still among the highest water users in Australia and on average; 40% of their drinking water is used on gardens? Record your water meter reading before you leave and it may surprise you how much water you use in your gardens.

To find out your rostered watering days, visit https://www.watercorporation.com.au/save-water/watering-days

If you find programming your sprinkler system a bit of a challenge attend one our free Waterwise irrigation Workshops being held across the Perth metropolitan area over the coming weeks.

Water use

Our average daily water use last week was 949 million litres, which was above the forecast of 957 million litres per day.  Our financial year to date water use is 109.5 billion litres, which is slightly above the 109.4 billion litres we forecast.

Dam levels

Over the last seven days, Perth’s dam storage levels decreased 0.2 percentage points from 44.3% to 44.1%.  Perth’s dams store groundwater and desalinated seawater that is transferred from our treatment plants as well as streamflow (comes from rainfall).

Sprinkler roster compliance

The two-day-per week sprinkler roster now applies, and this week our inspectors issued 114 warnings and 142 fines in the metro region.  This is compared to 158 warnings and 199 fines the previous week.   Year-to-date we have taken a total of 9349 actions (warnings + fines) compared to 10175 actions for the same period in 2016.

Please remember to stick to your two rostered watering days per week, and 10 minutes per station is usually about right for most sprinkler systems. 

Rainfall

The average monthly rainfall for December is 13.1mm.  So far this month, Perth has received 7.4mm of rainfall.  Since 1 January 2017, Perth has received 820.80mm of rainfall, which is less than the average of 844.5mm (January to December period).