Metro weekly water update 5 October 2018

Note: 1 billion litres = approx. 400 Olympic swimming pools.  Please note these figures are rounded (except for rainfall) to the nearest whole number.

Water use

Average daily water use over the last week was 667 million litres, which was above the forecast of 620 million litres.  Since 1 July 2018 we have used 59 billion litres of water - this is about 4 billion litres above what we had forecast.

Dam level (total for 15 dams)

The dam storage level has remained steady over the last week, remaining at 59 per cent* of full capacity.

*Please note some dams are filled from different sources and this increase may include the transfer of groundwater and desalinated seawater from treatment plants as well as streamflow (that comes from rainfall).  The percentage of full capacity number can also go up or down depending on how much water has been supplied to customers this week from dams.

Streamflow (total for 15 dams)

From 1 May 2018 to 4 October 2018 the dams have received 122 billion litres of streamflow.  The post-1975 average for the May to October period is 165 billion litres.

Sprinkler roster compliance

The two-day-a-week sprinkler roster now applies across Perth, so make sure your sprinklers are programmed for your rostered water days and only to come on once, either before 9am or after 6pm.

Our team of inspectors issued 51 warnings and 33 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2018, we have taken a total of 6,515 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 7,509 actions for the same period in 2017.

Annual rainfall

Perth has received 705.8 mm of rainfall since January this year.  The cumulative average rainfall for January to December is 732.8 mm.

General water news

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its statement about weather across Perth in September – Greater Perth in September 2018: a very dry month.

The statement shows how variable Perth’s weather can be due to the continued impact of climate change and why we all need to maintain our efforts to save water. Some interesting facts from the Bureau:

• Rainfall was well below average across Perth, with monthly rainfall totals in the 20 mm to 60 mm range.

• The Perth Metro weather site recorded 35.2 mm. This was 42 per cent of the long-term average of 84.8 mm. 

• The weather station Jandakot Aero experienced its driest September in 44 years of records; Pearce RAAF had its driest September for 49 years since 1969.

• It was also warmer than usual at the Perth Metro weather site – the mean daily maximum temperature was 20.5 °C, which was 0.2 °C above the long-term average of 20.3 °C.

• The Perth Metro site experienced four consecutive warm days with temperatures of 25 °C between 20 and 23 of September, which is its longest such run for six years since 14 to 17 September 2012.