Good Article and I agree.

Little kids dont like to share, neither do state givernments, so i wish you luck as this would be tougher than climbing everest to achieve.

People do not yet think on a global level, and until we work together we will always be short on something in most areas.

There are over 700,000 separate houses in southeast Queensland comprising 80% of all dwellings.

Each house would have yielded 75,000 litres (75 kilolitres) of rainwater in the 12 months to 30 June 2006 from a 5KL rainwater supply system, when collecting rainwater from all downpipes, for use in laundry, toilet flushing, hot water and outdoors uses.

All 700,000 houses combined would have yielded 53 billion litres (53 Gigalitres) of water.

Rainwater tanks would have yielded a further 16GL if rainwater was collected from the roofs of all other buildings in southeast Queensland, making a combined total of 69GL.

This compares with the proposed Tugun desalination plant which can potentially deliver 46GL.

Even if the current extreme drought conditions persist for another 25 years, rainwater tanks can provide almost all of the water required by a 52% increase in the population of southeast Queensland predicted by 2032 (ABS).

The cost of retrofitting will be less than $3,000 per house if all existing houses have a 5KL rainwater system installed over the next 10 years. It currently costs more than $3,000 to install a 5KL rainwater supply system into a new house.

The cost of $3,000 is achieved by manufacturing rainwater tanks in bulk, using 1KL tanks in preference to 5KL tanks, and making installation less expensive by encouraging do-it-yourself installation (using 1KL tanks) with fixed rates for work that must be performed by plumbers and electricians, or by engaging teams of highly trained, full-time installers.

For an average household, it will cost $0.40 per kilolitre to operate a 5KL rainwater system once installed and yielding 75KL a year.

Under Section 388 of the Water Act 2000, the Government may require reduction in mains drinking water consumption at point of sale of all property, with rainwater tanks deemed to comply.

The Queensland Government confirms that water collected from roofs for rainwater tanks is not owned by the State. However, the Government does not confirm or deny that water collected from roofs for rainwater tanks is owned by the building owner. Why?

Greg Cameron

“It is because as our cities, our farms and our industry have grown so our demand for water has grown apace.”

In admitting that growth and population increase has put extra pressure on water, Malcolm Turnbull should now also admit that there are too many people living in Australia, and that his government should stop pandering to industry in providing them with more and more customers that Australia simply cannot carry.

A zero net population growth is the answer. It is too late to do anything about our already twice-than-sustainable population, but we can still do something to prevent Australia from turning into a desert. But, first we need politicians with the guts and will to take appropriate action

Spot on Leigh. Nothing more needs to be said.

Zero net population growth is a fine idea, but how would it be implemented? Do we firstly drastically restrict immigration? What if this doesn't work as planned? Do we pass a law that will not allow any more than two children per procreating couple? This could become a slippery slope indeed.

New housing estates should be designed with water sustainability and energy efficiency in mind - water tanks, grey water systems for use in the garden and a system to harvest and store storm water. Strong encouragement to reduce consumption should be balanced with systems designed to increase supply.

As much as many of us would like to see decisions on water and population control made on the premise of ecological sustainability, it seems the reality is that our current economic model will collapse under such a regime. I don't know enough about economics to propose a solution but I am sure there are plenty of people out there who do. In my own area, the research and design of water-efficient gardens, utilising lovely new native cultivars is just one small part of what should be a multi-pronged approach to the problem of sustainable water consumption in Australia.

I don't know why Greg Cameron persists with this 5kl tank scenario when Sydney water makes it clear that 5kl is the minimum needed to make any difference to supply. If we accept that Gregs 75kl annual capture by his 5kl tank then that means a massive 180kl is lost when the tank overflows. A 5kl tank is only one weeks supply at the average 700litres/day so these dinky little things will even run dry in a wet season.

And a bunch of smaller 1kl tanks is even worse. The average house in Brisbane has 255kl of rain in a normal year and a 13,500 litre tank will optimise capture with minimal loss to overflow. You are up for the cost of plumbing anyway and it is an investment that more than pays its way. So why piss about with only half of a good investment?

It should be noted that Turnbull is wrong when he suggests that therte is no competition for overpriced public water. You are a competitor and every other homeowner can be a competitor for the price of a decent water tank. And the price of your own water is about $1.00/kl which is still well below the price of desalinated water.