Water use media statement 22 Feb

 

	Target	Actual
February water use to date	23 billion litres	23 billion litres
Dam storage levels	N/A	50 per cent
Cumulative streamflow into dams	181 billion litres (Post 1975 May to January average)	149 billion litres
February rainfall to date	13.0 mm (January mean rainfall 1994-2017)   12.5 mm (January average rainfall 1876-2016)	0.2 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 1.024 billion litres, which was slightly below the forecast of 1.039 billion litres.

 

Daily water use for the last five days
Date	Actual water use – litres	Forecast – litres
Friday, 22 February 2019	942,000,000	1,016,000,000
Thursday, 21 February 2019	1,005,000,000	1,016,000,000
Wednesday, 20 February 2019	1,012,000,000	1,016,000,000
Tuesday, 19 February 2019	977,000,000	1,016,000,000
Monday, 18 February 2019	1,084,000,000	1,033,000,000

Note: water use above is calculated up to 8am each day for the previous 24 hour period

 

Since 1 July 2018, we have used 187 billion litres of water - this is 3 billion litres above what we had forecast for this period.  It’s worth noting our 2018-19 demand forecast for the shoulder periods (winter/spring) was more ambitious than previous years and actual total water use is about the same as this time last year.

 

Dam level (total for 15 dams)

 

The dam storage level has not changed over the past week, sitting at 50 per cent* of full capacity.

 

*Please note some dams are filled from different sources - dam levels include the transfer of groundwater and desalinated seawater from treatment plants as well as streamflow (that comes from rainfall).  Dam levels are no longer an accurate indicator of the health of Perth's water supply situation.

 

Streamflow (total for 15 dams)

 

From 1 May 2018 to 22 February 2019 the dams had received 149 billion litres of streamflow.  The post-1975 average for the May to February period is 183.1 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 119 warnings and 95 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2019, we have taken a total of 1742 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 1635 actions for the same period in 2018.

 

Annual rainfall

 

Perth has received 7.4 mm of rainfall since 1 January.  Average rainfall for January and February (1994-2017) is 29.7 mm.

 

General water news

 

We often get asked if it’s acceptable to use high pressure water cleaners.

 

In Western Australia, you can use a high pressure water cleaner to spray buildings, building sites, demolition sites, paths, paved areas and roads to:         

• Fight fires

• Avoid a threat to public health or safety (eg cleaning up a chemical spill)

• Construct, demolish or repair buildings, paved areas and roads

For more watering do’s and don’ts check out this page on our website https://www.watercorporation.com.au/save-water/watering-days/dos-and-donts