Metropolitan region weekly water update data as at 23 November 2017

 

	Target	Actual
November water use to date	20 billion litres	20.8 billion litres
Dam storage levels	N/A	44.6 per cent
Flow into dams (since 1 May 2017)	25 billion litres	93.7 billion litres
November rainfall to date	22.4mm (monthly average)	4.6mm

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

 

Power outages and your sprinkler system

 

Did you know some automatic sprinkler systems without back-up batteries re-set after a power outage?

 

This could result in your sprinklers coming on outside of rostered watering days, so it’s important to check your system if you have experienced a power outage.

 

For scheme water users, the two-day-per week sprinkler roster is currently in place across Perth. Your rostered watering day is based on the last digit of your house or lot number. If there is no house number, the lot number is used.

 

Sprinklers can be used once per watering day either before 9am or after 6pm.

 

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 you can attend one of our free Waterwise irrigation Workshops being held across the Perth metropolitan area over the coming months.

 

If you’ve just misplaced your manual, you can download manuals for most sprinkler systems sold in Western Australia over the past 20 years from The Watershed Water Systems website www.thewatershed.biz/downloads

 

Water use

 

Our average daily water use last week was 868 million litres, which was less than the forecast of 902 million litres per day.  Our financial year to date water use is 96.14 billion litres, which is slightly less than the 96.15 billion litres we forecast.

 

Dam levels

 

Over the last seven days, Perth’s dam storage levels decreased 0.2 percentage points from 44.8% to 44.6%.  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 142 warnings and 134 fines in the metro region.  This is compared to 150 warnings and 162 fines the previous week.   Year-to-date we have taken a total of 8,731 actions (warnings + fines) compared to 9,683 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 November is 22.4mm.  So far this month, Perth has received 4.6mm of rainfall.  Since 1 January 2017, Perth has received 813.20mm of rainfall, which is less than the average of 833.5mm (January to November period).